Jillian Michaels’ 2 Kids: All About Lukensia and Phoenix

Jillian Michaels’ road to motherhood was a whirlwind.

In the same month, the fitness trainer and her then-fiancée Heidi Rhoades welcomed daughter Lukensia, 14, via adoption from Haiti, and welcomed son Phoenix, 10.

The former couple did not plan to become parents of two children at the same time, but when Rhoades went into labor, Michaels received a message that Lukensia had received a visa and would be able to adopt the then 2-year-old. Reflecting on the “hectic” period of her life, she told PEOPLE in September 2012, “It was hectic, chaotic, conflicting — everything you imagine it would be, but it was also magical and meaningful and rewarding.”

While Michaels and Rhoades announced their separation in June 2018, the couple are still raising their two children together. The The biggest loser the star has also since married fashion designer DeShanna Marie Minuto.

Jillian Michaels/Instagram

Over the years, Michaels has become an expert on balancing family life and a busy career. “With two young children, I had to figure out a way to balance my days,” she told PEOPLE in April 2015. She went on to explain that she carves out 12 hours a week with “no kids allowed” to focus solely on her own personal demands. “This way, I can spend five to six hours with the children, and the other eight hours at work. If I have extra time, it goes to the children,” she explained. “Things seem to work and it keeps me sane!”

Motherhood also inspired Michaels to write a book about pregnancy Yes baby! A revolutionary guide for modern moms to master pregnancy, have a healthy baby, and recover better than ever. “Every parent deserves access to the most honest, reliable, up-to-date information to take advantage of and nurture their own and their baby’s health,” she told PEOPLE about the book.

Keep reading to find out all about Jillian Michaels’ two children, Lukensia and Phoenix.

Lukensia Michaels Rhoades, 14

Jillian Michaels/Instagram

Michaels and Rhoades had a daughter, Lukensia “Lu” Michaels Rhoades, through adoption from Haiti on May 12, 2012, when she was 2 years old. The former couple brought their daughter home just days after Rhoades gave birth to their youngest child, son Phoenix.

The adoption process “wasn’t easy,” as Michaels told PEOPLE in 2012. However, the trainer, who was diagnosed with endometriosis as a teenager, never gave up hope. “I felt the call to adopt,” she said. “You just know in the deepest part of your being that you are meant to find this little soul and guide it through life.”

Michaels first applied for adoption in 2010 through the Democratic Republic of Congo. After not hearing anything from the agencies for a year, she found out that there were children in Haiti for adoption. She and Rhoades met Lu when she was 18 months old while Rhoades was pregnant, but they still had a long way to go before making the adoption official. In the end, however, Michaels said it was all worth it.

“That moment of pulling Lu out of Haiti and touching the wheels of the plane in New York … she became an American citizen two years later,” Michaels recalled to PEOPLE. – It was a difficult moment.

Reflecting on her emotional adoption journey during a November 2019 interview with PEOPLE. I’m becoming a mom podcast, Michaels talked about how difficult it was to leave Lu in Haiti before the adoption was finalized. “I went the second time [to Haiti], she stayed with me in the guest house — they call it the guest house. So she wasn’t in an orphanage,” she explained. “So they kept telling her, ‘This is your mom, this is your mom.’ And she said, ‘Rad, you’re my mom.’ She liked me right away.”

During the interview with The Red Book when Lu was little, Michaels discussed her parenting style and how she encouraged her daughter to be independent and confident.

“Kids are accident prone; they’ll fall over. As far as I know [Lu] she’s not going to die or get seriously injured, that’s fine,” Michaels said. “We’d rather have her be adventurous and fall and get back up than a helicopter around her and make her feel fragile.”

The fitness trainer also encourages her children to live a healthy lifestyle, which includes healthy eating – with a weekly “treat day” – and being active.

“Lu likes horses, so I take her to the barn, and she likes to dance, so I play music and she dances around the house,” Michaels shared with PEOPLE in 2013. “We run on the beach with the dogs and take her out to ride her trike. We’re just living healthy – we are playing!”

Growing up, Lu also spent time touring with her mother. In 2013, she and her brother accompanied mom on her Maximize Your Life tour and even celebrated her third birthday along the way.

Now that she’s a teenager, Michaels “openly talks” with her daughter about food and her relationship with it. “My daughter really struggles with food, she has the same food issues that I do,” Michaels revealed during an appearance on PEOPLE Now. She added that the mother-daughter duo “talks about food in a way that is healthy.”

Phoenix Michaels Rhoades, 11

Jillian Michaels/Instagram

The former couple welcomed their son, Phoenix Michaels Rhoades, on May 3, 2012. Michaels and Rhoades learned that Lua’s adoption was finalized when Rhoades went into labor and brought her home a few days after Phoenix was born. At the time, Michaels joked to PEOPLE, “We’re swimming in babies here.”

Even as a baby, Phoenix took after Michaels when it came to his personality. When he was 8 months old, the fitness trainer told PEOPLE that he would get “frustrated” when he tried to talk to people but couldn’t, adding, “He’s a fiery little nerd, just like me. I’m like, ‘You should to be like Heidi!’ But it’s not. It’s not good, it’s not good.”

Phoenix also seems to have a passion for fitness like her mother. In August 2016, Michaels posted a video on Instagram of her then 4-year-old son doing one-arm push-ups. “Start young 😁 whose other kids think they are Olympians?” she wrote in the description.

Earlier that month, Michaels allowed Phoenix to get his ears pierced after being inspired by his older sister’s jewelry. She explained her decision on social media, writing on Instagram: “His sister got her piercing done and he wanted his to be done. I didn’t want to say ‘that’s for girls’.” ”

Over the years, Phoenix has also rocked several different hair colors in addition to her natural brunette locks. In 2021, his mom showed off his green hair on Instagram. By September 2022, his hair was down and bleached blonde as he posed for a photo with Michaels’ husband, Minuto, at a New York Yankees game.

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Source: HIS Education