‘Jersey Shore’: Snooki Has Emotional Reunion With Birth Mom Who Put Her Up for Adoption

Martin Holmes June 6, 2025, 9:53 am

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi spoke to her birth mother for the first time on Thursday’s (June 5) episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, where she was able to find out why she was placed for adoption as a baby.

The reality star, who was adopted from Chile by an Italian-American family when she was just six months old, was joined by her castmate Jenni “JWoww” Farley and a translator as she contacted her birth mother via computer chat.

“I just feel like I’ll always regret not doing this,” Polizzi said in a confessional. “I need to do this.” The main question Polizzi wanted an answer to was, “Why was I put up for adoption?”

As the translator typed the question into the chat, an emotional Polizzi told the cameras, “For 36 years, I’ve been thinking about this question, and now the answer is going to pop up any second. This is insane.”

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The translator reported back the response from Polizzi’s birth mom, saying, “When she realized she was pregnant, she told her partner, your father, and he just disappeared, leaving her by herself. She didn’t have any support at that moment, so that was the only option that she had. Even though it was painful, she had to let you go.”

A teary-eyed Polizzi then said she wanted to speak to her birth mom on the phone. With the help of the translator, Polizzi’s birth mom told her daughter, “I’m sorry for putting yourself in that situation and that you were adopted,” noting that it was “very difficult” for her. However, she “never forgot” about Polizzi.

Polizzi reassured her birth mom that she had an “amazing life” and was “adopted by loving parents” who “spoiled” her.

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Reflecting in confessional, Polizzi stated, “Obviously, I wouldn’t even be here if she didn’t put me up for adoption. I have amazing parents. I had a great childhood. And then meeting my roommates. And then meeting Jionni. And then having my kids.”

Polizzi, who rose to fame on Jersey Shore, married Jionni LaValle in 2014 and went on to have three children together, Lorenzo, 11, Giovanna, 10, and Angelo, 6.

The translator explained, “[Polizzi’s birth mom] is happy to know that you are a family now, and she’s very happy knowing that you were okay. She’s really happy she talked to you, and she loves you.”

As for whether she’d be open to meeting her birth mom in person, Polizzi said she wasn’t sure. “I’m just so content with my life and who my parents are. I don’t know where to go from here. My emotions are everywhere,” she shared.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, Season 8, Thursdays, 8/7c, MTV