What to Know About Hayden Panettiere's Daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko

Emy LaCroix, Caroline BlairTue, May 12, 2026 at 8:38 PM UTC

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Hayden Panettiere and her daughter Kaya; Hayden Panettier and Wladimir Klitschko attend the Ein Herz Fuer Kinder Gala on December 5, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.
Credit: Hayden Panettiere/X; Franziska Krug/Getty -

Hayden Panettiere is a proud mother to one daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko

Kaya lives abroad with her dad, Wladimir Klitschko, but Panettiere has maintained an "incredible bond" with her

Kaya speaks five languages, loves horses and is "so happy"

Hayden Panettiere shares an "incredible bond" with her only child, daughter Kaya Evdokia Klitschko.

The Nashville actress became a mother in December 2014 when she and her then-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko, welcomed Kaya in Hawaii. The couple raised Kaya together for the first four years, but in 2018, Panettiere made the "incredibly difficult" decision to give full custody to Klitschko.

Panettiere addressed the decision during a May 2026 episode of Jay Shetty's podcast On Purposewhere she denied the "heartbreaking" claims that she "gave away" Kaya. At the time of the custody change, Panettiere was seeking treatment for alcoholism, substance abuse and postpartum depression.

"I mean, the idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be okay with it is heartbreaking. Couldn't be farther from the truth," she said. "I think a misconception is that I have been, in the past, forced into treatment when, in fact, I have been the one who has sought it out."

Though Kaya still resides in Europe with Klitschko, Panettiere stays in regular contact with her.

"We are fortunate that we can travel a lot," she told PEOPLE of her vacations with her daughter in 2022. "She's a happy kid open to a huge world. And she has more love than anybody I've ever met. She has a beautiful life. I was just with her. She's just an amazing child. She's smart and she's funny and for whatever reason, she still loves me."

Here's everything to know about Hayden Panettiere's daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko.

Panettiere announced Kaya's sex by accident

Hayden Panettiere at to the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 2014.
Credit: Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCUniversal/Getty

While walking the red carpet at the Emmys in August 2014, Panettiere showed off a growing baby bump — and also accidentally let the sex of her baby slip during an interview. After sharing that she was expecting a girl, she said she was excited about going baby shopping and painting her daughter's room.

Kaya was born in 2014

Panettiere and her then-fiancé Klitschko welcomed their daughter Kaya in Hawaii on Dec. 9, 2014. The actress's rep confirmed the news exclusively to PEOPLE.

"We are over the moon and madly in love!" the pair told PEOPLE, with the actress later saying of Klitschko, "I'm lucky if I can get my hands on the kid. He's like, 'No, no, I got her.' Which is exactly what I thought he would be like."

The new parents also got a lot of support from Klitschko's mother. "[She] was desperate to take the baby for a night," Panettiere told PEOPLE when Kaya was 2 weeks old. "She looks like she didn't get much sleep, but I feel well-rested!"

She added of her newborn daughter, "She's really so sweet. I'm sure that's the way it's meant to be, because when they are putting you through the wringer you're like, 'You are so lucky you're cute!' "

Looking back on Kaya's birth in September 2024, Panettiere told PEOPLE that her daughter has been just like her since the moment she was born.

"She's beautiful, and she came out just like me," she said. "I mean, talk about nature vs. nurture. I mean, this little girl literally came out — not just her face resembling mine, but she is my personality. She just is."

Panettiere struggled with postpartum depression

The Heroes star has been very open about her experience with postpartum depression and addiction following Kaya's birth. She told E! News' The Rundown in 2023that she "wishes somebody told her'' what she might feel and that she wishes she "knew to look out for it."

"I never heard any stories about it at all. I just thought there was something seriously wrong with me, so I thought, '[Alcohol] will fix this. Duh!' " she explained. "And it didn't. It does for a moment, but then it made everything worse."

She entered treatment for substance abuse for the first time when Kaya was 4 months old, and is proud to be doing better now. Panettiere "looks forward" to the day she can talk about her experiences with Kaya.

"I'm grateful that I'm equipped with the information and with the experience that I've had with postpartum depression," she told Women's Health in March 2023.

Kaya lives with her dad in Europe

Hayden Panettiere and her daughter Kaya.
Credit: Hayden Panettiere Twitter

After Panettiere and Klitschko split in 2018, the actress made the decision for Kaya to live with her father in Ukraine amidst her struggles with addiction. However, at the time, Panettiere didn't realize the decision would be permanent.

"I was gonna go work on myself and I was gonna get better," Panettiere said during her 2022 appearance on Red Table Talk. "And when I got better that things could change and she could come to me and I could have my time with her. But that didn't happen."

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"I felt horribly guilty but at the same time, I was trying to tell myself if I'm not okay, if I'm not good then I cannot be the best mom to [Kaya]," she continued. "And I was going through such a hard time and I knew the most unselfish thing I could do was to make that hard decision and just try to work on myself."

She also called relinquishing custody of Kaya and signing the papers the "most heartbreaking thing I've ever had to do in my life."

"It was the hardest thing I could do," Panettiere previously told PEOPLE. "But the best thing for my daughter was to make sure she was okay, take care of myself and make sure I could be a good mom to her. And sometimes that means letting go."

She is multilingual

While speaking to PEOPLE in 2024, Panettiere revealed her daughter can speak five languages.

"English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, and she's now getting on with her French ... she's a genius," the actress shared.

She continued, "I think language is one thing we do poorly in the U.S. By the time we start teaching them languages, their brain is already too formed. But when they're babies and young, they're like a sponge. You can teach them anything. She doesn't appreciate it now, but I keep telling her she will!"

During a 2017 appearance on Live with Kelly!, Panettiere admitted then-2-year-old Kaya was "really good at Russian" — and had even developed a Russian accent.

Kaya is a fearless skier

While her father is a professional boxer, Kaya has shown talent in another sport: skiing.

Kaya began skiing at just 2 years old, with Panettiere showing off a video of her daughter on the slopes during her 2017 appearance on Live with Kelly!.

The actress also discussed Kaya's bravery on the mountain to Good Morning America in 2017. "She has no fear," Panettiere said. "She would go straight into a wall if you let her."

She is obsessed with horses

Hayden Panettiere and holding her daughter Kaya.
Credit: Hayden Panettiere Twitter

In February 2024, Panettiere shared some of her daughter's interests with PEOPLE, including Kaya's love of horses.

"I believe it's nature over nurture," she said of her daughter. "I have horseback riding in my genetics — my great-uncle once won the Kentucky Derby. I got a video of her the other day watching Racing Stripes, which is a movie she watches on repeat, and she was sitting on this toy hippo and kind of racing the hippo and going crazy — I thought its ears were going to rip off!"

In addition to horses, Kaya is also a fan of swimming — something she has in common with her mom.

"She's just like me," Panettiere said. "When I was working on Nashville, I was pregnant with her and just spent a lot of time in my pool. And she came out just loving water."

Kaya inspired Panettiere to start a charity

Kaya has been a driving force behind Panettiere's dedication to her newest mission — Hoplon International, the charity she founded in March 2022 to raise money for Ukraine amid the war with Russia. Kaya lived in the country with her father until the upheaval made it unsafe to stay there.

Panettiere shared her concern for Kaya and the situation in Ukraine with PEOPLE, saying, "What she's dealing with and what we're all going through right now in regards to Ukraine is really really hard. I had a conversation with her and the only question she had was, 'Why is Putin doing this?' It's so heartbreaking."

Panettiere and Kaya have an "incredible" relationship

Hayden Panettiere and her daughter with Wladimir Klitschko
Credit: Hayden Panettiere Twitter

After Panettiere made the "incredibly difficult" decision to let Kaya live in Ukraine with her dad full-time, she has found ways to maintain a close relationship with her "happy" daughter.

"[She] knows that she's got two parents that love her and I know in my heart that she feels supported," she gushed on Shetty's podcast.

"I have an incredible relationship with her. I go travel as much as I can. I see her. I do spend a lot of time on FaceTime with her, but we talk about really deep things," Panettiere continued. "We have a really intense, incredible bond and I'm very grateful for that."

She added, "I know that she knows that she has two parents that would do anything in the world to make sure that she is happy and healthy, mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. She in no way feels abandoned and that's something that I've made sure to stay on top of and be very aware of."

on People

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