Simone Biles’ Birth Mother Speaks Out: A Story of Addiction, Abandonment, and Forgiveness

Decades of Estrangement and a Mother’s Plea for Forgiveness

Four thou­sand miles and a life­time of hurt stood between Shanon Biles and a front row seat at the Paris Olympics. 

But noth­ing can dimin­ish the pride with which she beams at the men­tion of her daugh­ter Simone’s tri­umphant return to form three years after she bowed out of the Tokyo games.

Now, speak­ing exclu­sive­ly to Dai­ly­Mail, Shanon, 52, has said that she lives in hope for the day Simone reach­es out so she can ask her daugh­ter for for­give­ness for the past she can­not change after her drug addic­tion led to her to aban­don her children.

The Heartbreaking Decision to Give Up Her Children

“It was hard to give up my kids, but I had to do what I had to do. I was­n’t able to care for them. I was still using and [my father] did­n’t want me com­ing in and out of their lives when I was­n’t right,” she explained to DailyMail.com.

Shanon’s two eldest chil­dren, Tevin and Ash­ley, were tak­en in by Ronald’s sis­ter, while Simone and her sis­ter Adria were brought up by Ronald and Nel­lie over 1,000 miles away in Hous­ton, Texas.

Rebuilding a Relationship: Shanon’s Plea for Forgiveness

Shanon has Simone’s tele­phone num­ber, but she has nev­er called it, feel­ing instead that the out­reach has to come from her famous daugh­ter. “I can’t keep dwelling on it. When­ev­er she’s ready I’m here and will­ing to receive,” she said.

Speak­ing direct­ly to Simone, Shanon said, “I would like to sit down and talk to you and answer any ques­tions you may have. I don’t know what you’ve been told but I want you to hear the real deal.”

Shanon’s sto­ry is one of addic­tion, heart­break, and a moth­er’s unwa­ver­ing hope for for­give­ness and rec­on­cil­i­a­tion with her Olympic hero daughter.