16 Celebrity Mamas SO Single It's Sad
When it comes to families in Hollywood, as in the rest of the world, they truly do come in all shapes and sizes. Sure, celebrities generally have tons of funds on hand, which means they can do things like hire nannies and personal assistants to take care of errands and things like that. However, even with the added help that those super-sized celebrity paychecks can bring, single parenting certainly isn't easy. Many celebrity single mamas have merely gone through a divorce or split from their partner, and found themselves raising their child primarily on their own. Others conceived a child with someone who they really didn't see themselves with in the long term, so they just cut the whole father thing out of the equation. And then, there are the bad*ss celebrity mamas who decided that they're not going to bother waiting for a man in order to fulfill their dream of motherhood - they're going to adopt and offer their love to a child in need of it.
Whatever their journey to single motherhood, these 16 celebrities are doing it all with grace. We're kind of sad that all these ladies haven't yet found their perfect match because they're all talented, totally gorgeous, and from what we can tell, fantastic mothers.
16 Sandra Bullock
Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are you're well aware of Sandra Bullock's relationship drama over the years. After dating a few fellow celebrities in her younger years, she seemed to find the perfect partner - Jesse James. Sure, people were a little wary of the guy, particularly because Sandy was America's sweetheart and rom com queen, but she loved him, so we loved him too. That is, before he ignited a huge cheating scandal. However, Bullock wasn't about to let some scrub keep her from her dream of being a mother. Shortly after her divorce, she adopted her son Louis, and about five years later made her family even bigger by adopting a daughter, Laila. Now, they're a happy little family. If a guy happens to come into her life that she loves, that's just an added bonus.
15 Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron has never been the type to place a huge priority on marriage, but after being with fellow actor Stuart Townsend for nearly a decade, many people assumed that children would be in the works soon. However, after splitting from Townsend, she decided to get her little family started on her own. She adopted her son Jackson in 2012, and a few years later adopted a daughter, August, making theirs a little family of three. According to Theron, adoption has always been something she wanted, and she spilled that her mother actually found a letter she wrote as a child asking to be taken to an orphanage to adopt a baby. Well, she's got her dream - and the A-List powerhouse is certainly doing a phenomenal job raising those children and making sure their every little need is met.
14 Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams' case proves that sometimes you just don't know what the future holds. As many will know, Williams fell totally in love with actor Heath Ledger, and after a few years together the two ended up having a daughter, Matilda. Ledger tragically passed away when Matilda was just a baby, and Williams immediately became a single mother trying to raise her daughter while also dealing with the loss of her beloved partner. It definitely wasn't easy, but she's always managed to keep her daughter's best interests in mind, and told USA Today that her attitude towards the difficulties of single motherhood is simply “you make it work, you keep getting out of bed.” While Williams does her best to keep her daughter out of the paparazzi's prying glare, from what the public can see, Matilda seems to be growing up just fine - a true credit to Williams' strength as a single mama.
13 Denise Richards
It's tough to imagine any woman managing to deal with Charlie Sheen's craziness, but before he went off the deep end, actress Denise Richards was actually his wife. The couple had two children together, and when Sheen started to get out of control, Richards made the decision to split - and to take her daughters with her. She has since adopted another child, and is the proud mama of three girls. She spilled on Oprah's Where Are They Now, saying that motherhood “changed my whole outlook on life” and that's “it's so wonderful seeing life through their [her daughters'] eyes.” Three daughters and a single mama? There's a whole lot of girl power in that family! We just hope that her daughters with Sheen don't grow up too affected by their dad's antics over the years - Richards seems to be doing a phenomenal job keeping them happy and somewhat shielded from all that mess.
12 Taraji P. Henson
Taraji P. Henson has been a single mama long before she was an A-List actress starring in a hit television show, and her devotion to her son has never wavered. Henson's former partner, and her son Marcel's father, passed away when her son was young. She was still a struggling actress trying to make it in a tough industry, and she could have easily given up and picked an easier career path. However, she stayed devoted to her dream, making many sacrifices along the way, and now she's able to bring her handsome older son along with her to red carpet events to show off all her hard work. She is one seriously inspiring woman, and we can't wait to see what her son does as he grows up - with an example like his mama, it's sure to be something great!
11 Mary Louise Parker
Anyone who loves a bit of celebrity gossip probably remembers when Mary Louise Parker was abandoned - while pregnant - by her then partner Billy Crudup. She shares custody of her son William, but she definitely rocks the single mama hat when William is with her. And, she also made the decision to expand her little family in 2007 by adopting a daughter, Ash. Nowadays, she just rocks the single mama card and supports her two children. She has a track record of some major television hits under her belt, so who knows what role she'll be taking on next? If she could play a suburban mom turned drug lord for so many seasons on Weeds, goodness knows she'd probably able to take on just about any role. That is, if she can find the time in her busy schedule - taking two children to activities now that they're older probably takes up a lot of time!
10 Kristin Davis
It's not that often that life imitates art, but that's exactly what happened in Kristin Davis' case. As fans of the show know, Davis' character on Sex and the City, Charlotte York Goldenblatt, went through some fertility struggles and ended up adopting a daughter. When Davis found herself wanting to start a family, she had a similar outcome - except instead of infertility creating a problem, the issue was that Davis just hadn't found the perfect man yet. So, she decided to take life into her own hands and adopt. She ended up adopting her daughter Gemma in 2012, and the duo are an absolutely adorable team of two. She's expressed that the whole adoption process was a little bit nerve-wracking because you just never know if things will go through, but she certainly got a happy ending!
9 January Jones
January Jones is best known for her character on Mad Men, and Betty Draper (later Francis) certainly isn't the warmest of mothers. However, in real life, Jones is an entirely different type of mother and appears totally devoted to her son Xander. Jones didn't adopt her son, but she's also never spilled the beans on who the father is (even though the public have always been dying to know). She did dish on being a single parent though, and told The Edit that “it was something I went into knowingly, I prepared mentally - and I was excited about it.” It's tough to imagine a more glamorous mom, so one thing is for sure - in addition to raising Xander to be a fantastic young man, Jones is definitely proving that being a stressed out single mom doesn't mean having to sacrifice on style.
8 Connie Britton
Connie Britton is basically the southern television queen, at this point. Sure, she's appeared in several films over the years, but television is her bread and butter. She starred as the beloved Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights before moving on to play country queen Rayna Jaymes on Nashville. And somehow, in the midst of those crazy television schedules, Britton decided she wasn't going to wait until she found the perfect man in order to start her perfect little family - so she adopted a baby boy, Yoby. Britton has been outspoken about the decision, and told Redbook that it was actually her parents passing away within a three year period that prompted her choice. “A lightbulb went off in my head and I thought 'What am I waiting for?'… 'This is something I want to do.'” So, she did! There she goes, being an inspiration to us all yet again.
7 Padma Lakshmi
Most people know that Lakshmi was married to controversial novelist Salman Rushdie for a few years in the mid-2000s, but did you know that she has a daughter? Though she's a staple on culinary shows, Lakshmi doesn't have quite the same level of notoriety as some A-List celebs, so she's managed to keep a bit of a lower profile. Back in 2010, the gorgeous gourmand gave birth to a daughter, Krishna. It was only later revealed who the father was - a venture capitalist that Lakshmi wasn't with anymore - because from the beginning, Lakshmi was determined to be a single mama. However, she's been very outspoken about how lucky she is to have help in raising Krishna, and how indispensable that help is. She has a live-in nanny as well as an assistant to help her organize her and Krishna's lives.
6 Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow has been in the industry for quite some time, and has gone through a lot of struggles, from splitting with her then fiance Lance Armstrong to battling breast cancer. Through the years, she never had children, and finally she decided that enough was enough - she wasn't going to wait around for a partner in order to start a family! So in 2007, she adopted her adorable son Wyatt, and decided to expand her family even more in 2010 by adopting her son Levi. She's talked about the struggles of being a single mama, and bases all her career decisions now on what's best for her children. She takes them on the tour bus, tucks them in at night on the bus bunks, and basically just takes her little family on the road when it's time to tour. Hey, mama's gotta do what mama's gotta do!
5 Malin Akerman
Children are absolutely adorable, but let's face it - with their crying and waking up in the middle of the night, they can definitely put a bit of pressure on even the strongest relationships, let alone a relationship that already had fractures. Malin Akerman learned that lesson the hard way. She had been with her husband Roberto for several years before they had their first child, a boy named Sebastian. A few months later, they ended up splitting, and Akerman became a single mama to her new baby boy who wasn't even a year old yet. However, she's managed to keep a sunny outlook and has said that “I roll with the punches” and she looks at the bright side, saying that “I get to have so much special time with my son now.”
4 Halle Berry
Halle Berry is one of the most beautiful actresses out there, and has been for years, but that doesn't mean that her love life is the thing of rom coms. In fact, the gorgeous A-Lister has had her fair share of trouble in the relationship sphere. She and her boyfriend Gabriel Aubrey had a baby girl together back in 2008, but about two years later they decided things weren't working out between them as a couple. They split, and while they keep a cordial relationship, Berry has custody of her daughter the majority of the time. She manages to balance being a mother with being a successful actress, and does it all while looking pretty darn incredible. We can't imagine what her daughter Nahla will look like as a teenager, with Halle Berry as a mother and a gorgeous model as a father. That girl is going to be a supermodel for sure.
3 Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet has certainly had her fair share of relationship drama - over the years, she's had three children, and been married to three different men. She married director Jim Threapleton when she was fairly young, and two years later they had their daughter, Mia. They split a year after that, and she eventually found love with director Sam Mendes, with whom she had her son, Joe. She split with Sam in 2011, and eventually met her current husband, Ned Rocknroll, with whom she had her second son, Bear. Though Winslet is still with her latest husband, that doesn't mean it's easy being a mama to three kids, two of which probably spend at least some amount of time with their fathers as well. She manages to balance it all with grace and look like a pretty incredible mother.
2 Meg Ryan
Back in the early 1990s, Meg Ryan was with fellow actor Dennis Quaid, and the duo ended up having a son together, Jack. They eventually split, and years later in 2005, when Jack was in his 20s, Ryan decided that she just wasn't finished with motherhood. She decided she wanted to adopt a child, and ended up expanding her family with Daisy True, an adorable daughter she adopted from China. While being a single mom definitely isn't easy, Ryan sings the praises of the situation, saying that “when you're a single mom, you're the only one in the house with the kids, you get to be the one in charge.” Hey, that's a silver lining if we ever heard one! It definitely takes a bold woman to adopt when her existing son is already all grown up, and she seems to be doing a phenomenal job.
1 Katie Holmes
When Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise first got together, the world was a little puzzled. He seemed a little out there, she was just a fresh-faced actress, and the pairing just seemed a little strange. They were together for several years and had a daughter, Suri, together before eventually parting ways. Since then, Holmes has managed to keep busy with roles in various films while also being a single mama to her daughter, Suri. It's hard to believe that once upon a time Holmes was criticized for letting Suri occasionally wear high heels at a young age, because nowadays, Suri seems like she's practically a teenager (she's 11). We have no doubt that Holmes is probably a really fantastic mom, and it may even be a bit easier to handle things solo than deal with an offbeat partner.