Woody Allen's adopted son would be "very happy" to take his surname.
Woody Allen
Moses Farrow - who was adopted by the 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' filmmaker and his ex-wife Mia Farrow when he was two - is estranged from his adopted mother, who he has accused of being emotionally and physically abusive, and would consider changing his name because he's close to his dad.
He said: “Putting it all together, I recognised that it’s important to provide yourself with a sense of safety, and sometimes that means maintaining distance.
"I’d be very happy to take my father’s surname.”
Moses has previously defended his father against his adopted sister Dylan's allegations he molested her when he was seven, in a lengthy essay in which he also detailed the 'Rosemary's Baby' actress' alleged abuse towards him, and he admitted he was disappointed with the reaction from his siblings, including high-profile writer Ronan Farrow.
He grew emotional as he told The Guardian newspaper: "We grew up together. I am their older brother. We all shared the same mother. Even if you’re not receiving that abuse directly, if you bear witness to it, it still impacts you in a deep way.
"I really hold all my siblings with compassion and understand there is a need to survive, however you can do it.”
Moses believes things changed in his childhood home when Woody's affair with Mia's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, was discovered.
He said: "Many of my older siblings started not to be at home as much, it was very destabilising. I felt I wanted to be a parent, to my younger siblings and to Mia, so I spent hours listening to her.
"You’re seeing [the molestation allegation] as the pivotal event, but [after the affair was discovered] there was already this strong atmosphere of hatred and anger, Mia saying my father was ‘a monster’."
The 42-year-old therapist has experienced suicidal thoughts and "struggles" with relationship as a result of his upbringing.
He said: "I’ve experienced suicidal thoughts, I’ve been in therapy for depression, I’ve certainly struggled with relationships and poor self-esteem, being a people pleaser and needing to be the perfect son.
"The trauma in adoption comes from feeling like there’s something wrong with us because we were rejected [by our birth parents.]
"I felt inherently like I was a bad kid. And then the abuse at home reinforced that.”
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