All About Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness's Two Children, Oscar and Ava

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Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness welcomed their first child, Oscar Maximilian Jackman, in 2000.
The couple's daughter, Ava Eliot Jackman, was born on July 10, 2005.
Jackman and Furness amicably separated in 2023 after 27 years of marriage.Hugh Jackman doesn't just play a dad on the big screen. The Australian actor is the proud parent of son Oscar Maximilian Jackman and daughter Ava Eliot Jackman, whom he shares with ex-wife Deborra-Lee Furness. Jackman met Furness on the set of Correlli, an Australian prison drama, in 1995. The pair, who have a 13-year age gap, wed the following year. After undergoing IVF treatments, they adopted their son Oscar in 2000 and their daughter Ava in 2005.
Jackman discussed the 'painful' struggle to become a father in a 2011 Herald Sun interview. 'From the moment we started the adoption process, all the anxiety went away,' he said. 'I don't think of them as adopted–they're our children. Deb and I are believers in … I suppose you could call it destiny. We feel things happened the way they are meant to. Obviously, biologically wasn't the way we were meant to have children.'
While the two actors raised their kids primarily in New York City, the Wolverine star and his then-wife hoped the children would feel connected to their parents' native country, Australia. 'It was a really important thing that they felt part Australian,' Jackman told Deadpool & Wolverine co-star Ryan Reynolds in a 2024 interview for People. 'I think if you ask [my kids] they'll say, 'I'm Australian' [and] they'll say 'I'm American, too,'' the actor added.
Jackman and Furness announced their amicable separation in 2023. Furness filed for divorce in 2025, describing her experience as a 'traumatic journey of betrayal' in a statement. Despite their relationship ending, the two remain bonded by their love for their two adult children. In a joint statement exclusively shared with People in 2023, they said, 'Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness.'
Although they've kept their children out of the public eye, the couple have shared a few details about their tight-knit family of four over the years. Below, learn all about Jackman and Furness's two kids, Oscar and Ava.
Jackman and Furness officially became parents in 2000 when they welcomed son Oscar Maximilian Jackman via adoption. The Marvel star wanted Oscar to have as normal a childhood as possible, but admitted that being the child of a celebrity comes with unique difficulties. 'There is a normalcy that I was used to [growing up] that they're not," he said of his kids in a 2006 interview with In Touch. "To be Wolverine's son can be a huge burden. My dad was an accountant and I thought it was cool, but no one cared."
Of course, there are some perks to having a superhero for a father. In a 2016 appearance on Steve with Steve Harvey, Jackman shared that his son once used his star power to impress a girl. While they were vacationing, Oscar ran up to his father and asked him to sign an autograph for someone he'd met on the beach. 'I was like, 'I'm the wingman for my 11 year old!'' Jackman said with a laugh.
While Oscar hasn't made many public appearances over the years, he accompanied his dad to the latter's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2009. The X-Men star had his hand and footprints immortalized in cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre while his family cheered him on.
Oscar's parents have also made an effort to connect him to his Bosnian roots. "When my son was younger, he found out he was part Bosnian, so we went and got this Croatian/Bosnian cookbook and he was very proud to carry that around when he was 7 years old," Furness told People in 2020.
Oscar graduated high school around 2019, according to an interview Jackman did with People that year. A now-deleted Instagram post shows him and his sister, mother, and father attending his commencement ceremony.
The Furness Jackmans became a family of four with the addition of Ava Eliot Jackman, who was born on July 10, 2005. Oscar was excited to become a big brother, according to his dad. 'He runs home from school saying, 'Where's my baby girl?,'' The Greatest Showman star told In Touch in 2006.
As for himself, becoming a girl dad was the start of an exciting new adventure for the silver-screen hero. 'I hold [Ava] and think, 'I don't want you to face anything bad ever in your life,'' he said in the same interview. 'There is nothing more important to me than my family."
Like with their older child, Jackman and Furness were conscious of trying to connect their daughter with her culture and identity. Furness revealed to People in 2020 that Ava has Mexican lineage, and the family had visited Mexico together. 'We completely embrace the ancestors and the extended family; they're family to us,' she explained of how she and her ex-husband acknowledge their kids' cultural differences.
Ava grew up primarily in NYC, even getting to see her father perform during a Broadway stint back in 2011. But young Ava turned out to be a tough critic. During an appearance on Anderson with Anderson Cooper, Jackman explained, 'When my wife comes, I sing a song for my wife in the show, and sometimes I go out to the crowd. My daughter literally hides under the seat in front. " Ava, who was six at the time, even admitted she found the show boring, Jackman recalled.
Like Oscar, Ava stays out of the spotlight, living a private and low-key life. She was most recently spotted attending the Australian Open with her mom back in January 2025. Furness rocked a bold purple shirt from BODE, while her daughter smartly paired a black-and-brown mini dress with knee-high boots.
Read the original article on InStyle