While TV’s the X Factor often plays up the sob stories and more dramatic aspects of contestants’ lives, the past of this season’s adorable tween Rachel Crow has been underplayed. Thirteen-year-old Rachel was adopted through social services when she was six months old because she was living in unsafe circumstances.
“She is totally unaffected by [her past],” Crow’s mother Barbara told the New York Post. “She never looks at [her past] in a sad way. She looks at is as what made her the person she is.”
Rachel’s biological parents remain unknown as their parental rights were terminated and her file sealed. Though her mother Barbara told the Post that she’d like “just ten minutes with them,” Rachel said, “I have two parents already… It is crazy because everybody is like, ‘She is not your real mom.’ And I am like, ‘Yeah, she is!’ ”
According the Post, Rachel said that if she wins the $5 million first prize, she wants to help other foster kids.
“I want to build a foundation that makes them feel good about themselves- whether they want to sing or act or whether they want to be in sports or go to Harvard,” she said. “I want to make sure they get to chase their dreams.”
Her personal website says, “On a personal note, Rachel Crow cares a great deal about helping children get adopted. This is something near to Rachel’s heart because she was adopted. She hopes to one day open a fund to help accomplish this.”
