"Needed time to wrap her mind" - When Simone Biles opened up about  her mother Nellie's initial reaction on adopting the siblings

Simone Biles once opened up about her mother Nellie's initial reaction to adopting the siblings. Biles was adopted by Ronald and Nellie along with her younger sister Adria, when she was six years old.

Biles' mother shared two sons Adam and Ronald Jr. with her husband Ronald Biles. However, as she was on the verge of finishing raising the two sons and following her passion for traveling, she was faced with the decision to take care of four Biles siblings, including Simone, Adria, Ashley, and Tevin.

In her autobiography Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance, published in 2016, Biles reflected on her mother's initial emotions, stating she needed time to pray and reflect on the decision as she worried about providing them with proper care.

"My grandparents were almost done raising their boys, and now here we were, four young children who needed the kind of attention and care that Grandma Nellie thought she was about to retire from," Biles wrote.

"'Let me pray on this.' She needed time to wrap her mind around the idea of doubling the size of her family. She also had to make peace with the fact that her dreams of traveling the world would have to be put on hold. Busy as she was with her nursing career, she also worried about whether she could truly give us the care we needed."

Biles and her siblings were adopted as their biological mother, Shanon, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction.

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Simone Biles once opened up on her mother Nellie's emotions after reading her letter ahead of the 2016 Olympics

Simone Biles of Team United States at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Getty Images)

Simone Biles earned the spot to compete at the 2016 Olympics at the Trials. She was then visited by her parents and Adria who came to bid her adieu before leaving for the Games. While leaving for the Games, Biles' mother asked her to note down her goals which she was not prepared for. However, a day before leaving for the Games, she wrote a heartfelt note for her mother.

"Hi Mom and Dad, I love you all. See you soon in Rio. I will make you proud. Love, Simone. Kisses," Biles wrote in the letter. (via autobiography Courage to Soar)

"Mom told me later that when she read the words I will make you proud scrawled in my big, round handwriting in a notebook tucked between sweaty leos, she put her hand over her mouth and wept," she added.

At the debut Games in Rio, Simone Biles won four gold medals.