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New York Yankees star Aaron Judge was born on April 26, 1992 — but he didn’t meet his parents until the following day. The baseball pro was adopted by Patty and Wayne Judge, a move that both the couple and their son considered a miracle. Patty and Wayne have supported and encouraged Aaron throughout his baseball career, and he credits them as his role models to this day.
Was Aaron Judge Adopted?
Patty and Wayne adopted Aaron one day after his birth in Sacramento, California. The MLB star had a closed adoption, so he never had any contact with his biological parents, and their identities are unknown.
Though Aaron was one day old when he was adopted, his parents didn’t tell him about the adoption until he was around 10 years old. He explained to the New York Post that he had started to notice he and his parents “really didn’t look alike, so I started asking questions and they told me I was adopted and answered all my questions, and that was that. I was fine with it. It really didn’t bother me because they’re the only parents I’ve known.”
He added, “I feel they kind of picked me… that God was the one that matched us together.”
Patty completely agreed. “We’re more blessed than he is,” she told the outlet.
Additionally, in an interview with Newsday, Aaron said, “I have one set of parents, the ones that raised me. That’s how it is. … Some kids grow in their mom’s stomach; I grew in my mom’s heart. She’s always [shown] me love and compassion ever since I was a little baby. I’ve never needed to think differently or wonder about anything.”
Who Are Aaron Judge’s Parents, Patty and Wayne?
Patty and Wayne both worked as teachers in Linden, California, at the time of Aaron’s adoption. They already had experience with the process, as the outfielder’s older brother, John, was also adopted.
Patty serves as the executive director of Aaron’s ALL RISE Foundation (AJARF), which he founded in 2017. The two have organized annual camps and programs for children since then, as well as leadership conferences and an All-Star Evening Gala. The foundation also offers a mini-grant program to organizations like the Boys & Girls Club, the Greater Stockton Yosemite Boy Scouts of America, Valley Children’s Healthcare and more.
Aaron credits Patty as the reason for his success in baseball. “I know I wouldn’t be a New York Yankee if it wasn’t for my mom,” he told MLB.com in 2017. “The guidance she gave me as a kid growing up, knowing the difference from right and wrong, how to treat people and how to go the extra mile and put in extra work, all that kind of stuff. She’s molded me into the person that I am today.”
Meanwhile, he told People in 2022 that his dad has “always been my hero, always a guy I looked up to.” He recalled Wayne playing catch with him outside as a child.
“Looking back on those childhood memories, I could tell he didn’t want to do it. I could tell he was tired. He’d had a long day of work. But he never said no. He never complained, nothing. So for me, that’s why he’s still the hero in my eyes,” Aaron continued.
Patty and Wayne were named the 2024 George and Barbara Bush Little League Parents of the Year ahead of the 2024 MLB Little League Classic in August 2024.
“His mother and I just wanted him to be a really good person,” Aaron’s dad told Recordnet in 2010. “But we knew from a very young age, as soon as we put a ball in his hand, that he had a lot of natural talent.”
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