Rosie O'Donnell Details Complicated Relationship with Daughter Chelsea Amid Name Change

Shared to her personal blog April 6, the poem revealed that Chelsea plans to take on her birth mother's maiden name, a decision Rosie says she finds hard to understand but ultimately respects.

"she wishes to change her last name/ to her birth moms maiden name/ doesn't make sense to me/ I am not her," Rosie wrote, reflecting on the pain of the separation. She also opened up about the difficult memories of when Chelsea went missing from their New York home in 2015 and later moved in with her biological mother, Deanna Neuens, in Wisconsin.

Rosie went on to explain that despite their strained past, she remains proud of Chelsea's recovery journey.

"Her recovery - her journey is her own," she wrote. "I'm proud of her/ living her truth/ I respect her desires/ her struggles, her success/ her right to define herself."

The poem also acknowledged the role of Chelsea's "3 moms" -- Rosie, her then-partner Kelli Carpenter, and her biological mom -- stating that every adoption story is complicated and layered.

"A primal wound/ sometimes doesn't heal," Rosie admitted. She also added that Chelsea, now nearly 28, deserves privacy and a life away from the spotlight.

Despite her complex feelings surrounding the name change, Rosie said she has no hard feelings about it, noting that while they may no longer share the same last name, Chelsea will always be "her girl," no matter what.

The poem comes amid new that Chelsea, who Rosie adopted as a baby, filed for a legal name change on January 30, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

The 27-year-old is currently residing in a sober living facility in Wisconsin, where she is facing a long and difficult battle with drug addiction, not to mention a string of recent arrests.

It's also been reported that Rosie, 63, removed Chelsea from her will shortly before the name change request was made.

It also comes after, in September 2024, Chelsea was arrested on felony child neglect and drug possession charges. A month later, she found herself behind bars again for similar offenses. And in November 2024, she was arrested a third time on multiple felony charges related to methamphetamine and narcotic possession.

Following her second arrest, O'Donnell posted a picture of her daughter holding her baby during a "better time," accompanied by a heart-wrenching caption: "Sadly this is not new for our family -- Chelsea has struggled with drug addiction for a decade. We are all hopeful she will find her way out of this deadly disease."

In March 2025, Chelsea was sentenced to six years of probation, with strict conditions including sobriety and no contact with known drug users.

Their up and down relationship hasn't always been strained, however, with Rosie and Chelsea reconnecting after a period of estrangement in 2018 when Chelsea found out she was pregnant with her first child, Skylar Rose.

Since then, Chelsea has had three more children -- daughters Riley (born January 2021) and Avery Lynn (born February 2022), and son Atlas (born October 2023), with Rosie remaining hopeful that they can reunite as a family one day.