Sandra Bullock adopted two children from Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. She was 45 when she adopted for the first time and was a single mom.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 29, 2020. It has since been updated.
Women play multiple roles in their lives and one of those is that of being a mother. Some women know that they want to be a mom right off the bat, some realize it after making sure that they are where they want to be in their career, and others might not want to be mothers at all. There are very few women who have been able to have a career while balancing motherhood too and they are inspiring just like other moms. Some moms go on this journey all by themselves.
Actress Sandra Bullock stands tall in the category of single moms since she became one after adopting her son Louis in 2010. She welcomed another child, a daughter, through adoption in 2015. The actress, 58, opened up in 2018 about motherhood and adoption.
"Being a mom, I finally realize, 'Oh this is what I was supposed to do when I grew up.' This is my purpose, and I knew it at a very young age ... I felt that calling at a very young age, but I had to become the mom that I was supposed to be for the kids that were waiting for me," she told Today's Hoda Kotb. She continued, "You’re a forever parent the minute you accept the love of that child. It's amazing to me how we can take away people's happiness by telling them this is the box that you have to stay in. There is no box," she added.
She decided to adopt after Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of the country horrifically. "I did think, 'Maybe not.' Then [Hurricane] Katrina happened. I'm going to cry... Katrina happened in New Orleans and something told me, 'My child is there.' It was weird," she said. Both her children were adopted from Louisiana.
Until she found Louis, she was only told that "the perfect child will find you. You will find your child." "But you don't believe that when it's not happening. When you're going, 'Where is my family?' When it does happen, you know exactly what they're talking about," she added. "I looked at him like, ‘Oh, there you are.’ It was like he had always been there,” she recalled. “He fit in the crook of my arm. He looked me in the eyes. He was wise. My child was wise," she said, according to People magazine.
The Speed actress had to go through the adoption process by herself as when she had started it she had her then-husband Jesse James by her side. She then found out that he had cheated on her and after the adoption, James wasn't a part of Louis' life. When she became a single parent, she faced some negative signaling from the world around her until she realized that she is enough in herself.
"Society’s hard," Sandra told Britain’s The Independent newspaper. “Society still, as open-minded as we’ve become, has these rules that quietly say: ‘This is the way it goes.’ They’re saying: ‘It’s a man and a woman, and then you have a baby, and that’s the family.’ I go: ‘Oh my god, I’m a single parent. With a child. How am I…’ I felt less than. I felt: ‘I’m not the complete package.’ And then I realised… this is the complete package.”
She thinks that her son knew that there was a missing piece in the family puzzle before she did. The Ocean's 8 star was once eating dinner with a few girlfriends when Louis, then 3, was present. One of her friends started talking about her daughters and Louis chimed in, "Yeah, I don’t have daughters. But I’m going to have a baby soon." Her friends wondered if the Oscar winner was planning to adopt again but she tried to convince her friends that that was not the case. However, she believed that her son was onto something.
"I realized at that time, maybe he knew something. And when I think about it, it would have been around the time that Laila was born," Bullock said. "It’s Louis’ way. Louis has a very strong way. He’s a fine leader, and he led me to Lai," she added.
In 2020, Bullock celebrated her birthday with friends, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Sarah Paulson, and Holland Taylor in Los Angeles on July 26. Aniston, 54, shared photos from their socially distanced gathering, as per Daily Mail. "Celebrating our girl properly distanced with so much love. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANDY WE LOVE YOU!!!" Aniston said in her caption. They have known each other for more than a decade and are there for each other during the big moments in life.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrB4cJDsi7g
https://people.com/parents/sandra-bullock-says-son-louis-knew-meant-have-sister-laila/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Jason Merritt; (R) Kevin Winter
