How These Celebrities Feel About Being Single Moms

Gigi Hadid

Gigi Hadid is notoriously private about her daughter, Khai, whom she shares with ex-partner Zayn Malik, but she did tell InStyle, “I’m trying to learn still, being a mom and letting myself rest,” regarding life as a working single mom.

Taraji P. Henson

Empire actress Taraji P. Henson unexpectedly became a single mother in 2003 following the tragic murder of her son’s father. Of single motherhood, she told Redbook, “I think we try to do our best. And yes, we can do it all, but I wouldn’t wish being a single parent on my worst enemy. It is not easy.”

Amber Heard

In July 2021, Amber Heard announced she’d gone through the surrogacy process to have a child on her own. The actress wrote on her Instagram, “I’m so excited to share this news with you. Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms. I now appreciate how radical it is for us as women to think about one of the most fundamental parts of our destinies in this way.”

She continued, “I hope we arrive at a point in which it’s normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib. A part of me wants to uphold that my private life is none of anyone’s business. I also get that the nature of my job compels me to take control of this. My daughter was born on April 8, 2021. Her name is Oonagh Paige Heard. She’s the beginning of the rest of my life.”

Mary Louise Parker

Mary Louise Parker gave birth to her son while she was romantically involved with Billy Crudup, and she chose to adopt a daughter following their split.

“I finally just decided, ‘Okay, I’m going to do this, and it’s going to be really hard because I’m single, and I’m going to do it anyway,” she told People.

Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams was thrust into single motherhood following the heartbreaking death of Heath Ledger, whom she shares a daughter with.

The actress told Elle, “I feel like I’m so good at raising a kid when I’m not working. I don’t forget anything. I’ve got everything covered. It’s a real luxury to have a moment when I’m not scrambling. I feel like most of my life, I’m trying to do two things at once, both to the best of my abilities. So that leaves me feeling pretty exhausted.”

She continued, joking, “I’m the person who falls asleep all the time. You invite me over for dinner or to a party, and there’s a whole scrapbook of pictures of me napping. I’ve even been given a nickname because of my snoring.”

Madonna

Madonna has been a single mom of six for 14 years following her 2008 divorce from Guy Richie. She told The Sun, “I’m not going to lie — it’s hard work having kids and doing all the work I do. Everybody has something to say about the way I live my life. At the end of the day I’m doing my best. If people don’t like it, then that’s really their problem.”

She added, “I hope I’m a role model. I hope I give other girls a voice, women a voice, other women someone to look up to and admire. I keep rolling with the punches and trying to have integrity. And I hope I inspire women and give them strength to deal with life no matter what comes their way.”

Mindy Kaling

Champions creator and A Wrinkle in Time star Mindy Kaling gave birth to daughter Katherine in December 2017, and son Spencer in September 2020.

“It’s really profound and strange. I was not a kid person at all,” Kaling said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “I was the person, if you had a baby at a party, I would go up to them and shake their hand and be like, ‘Hello.’ So I didn’t know [or] understand how to be around babies.”

“I was on planes [and] when babies would cry, I would be mad at the families,” she continued. “Now I’m like, ‘Let them cry, let them do whatever they want. They can sit on me and poop if they want.’ Now I know more.”

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron adopted her son, Jackson, and her daughter, August, on her own in 2012 and 2015, respectively. 

“I struggled mentally through the adoption process,” Theron told Elle. “Some of my lowest points in my life were dealing with the first time I filed; it really took an emotional toll. There were so many situations that didn’t work out, and you’d get attached and have all your hopes up and then just get crushed.”

Theron’s support system includes her mom, Gerta, with whom she co-parents: “I knew that I would have to have my mom help me if I was going to do this as a single parent. To not acknowledge her co-parenting my children would be a lie.”

As for raising two Black children, she told Elle in the same interview, “They need to know where they come from and be proud of that. But they’re going to have to know that it’s a different climate for them than it is for me, and how unfair that is. If I can do something about that, of course I’m going to.”

Sandra Bullock

Like Theron, Sandra Bullock chose to not only be a strong single mom but to adopt twice. 

First, she adopted her son, Louis, in 2010, following her divorce from TV personality Jesse James. She then adopted her daughter, Laila, in 2015. 

Bullock spoke to People in an interview celebrating the occasion of Laila’s adoption. “When I look at Laila, there’s no doubt in my mind that she was supposed to be here,” she said. “I can tell you absolutely, the exact right children came to me at the exact right time.” Bullock then remarked on the beauty of her family: “My family is blended and diverse, nutty and loving and understanding. That’s a family.”

Minnie Driver

Minnie Driver chose to keep the identity of the father of her son, Henry, to herself for years while raising him on her own. 

Of single motherhood, Driver said, "It is really challenging to be by yourself, to be the breadwinner, to make sure your child is having a complete and lovely childhood — and it's all on you, sort of, on the day-to-day."

Connie Britton

The Nashville star is currently a single mom to her son, Eyob, whom she adopted from Ethiopia in 2001, when he was a baby. 

In a 2011 People magazine profile, Britton recounted the one rhetorical question that propelled her toward adopting: “What am I waiting for?” She had been in Ethiopia to work on a documentary and was also involved with the African Children’s Choir and Worldwide Orphans. When Britton went back to the country to adopt Yoby, “it was such a wonderful moment of completion,” she told the magazine. “I was just grinning from ear to ear.”

Diane Keaton

Diane Keaton is the mother of two children and has notably (and inspiringly) chosen to remain a single mother her entire life. In her 40s and 50s, Keaton adopted her daughter, Dexter, and her son, Duke. "Motherhood was not an urge I couldn't resist, it was more like a thought I'd been thinking for a very long time. So I plunged in," she told Ladies Home Journal.

About where her life was before and what led her to finally adopting, Keaton said, "I’ve had such an unusual life. Obviously career-oriented. I was happy to be a daughter well into my 40s. That was something that meant a lot to me. I didn’t think that I was ever going to be prepared to be a mother." 

January Jones

January Jones gave birth to her son, Xander, in 2011 and has chosen to not reveal the identity of the father. Instead, the former Mad Men star embraced life as a single mom — and might even prefer it that way. Jones at one point commented that she doesn't feel the need to have a partner right now because her life is so full.

"I just don’t feel I need a partner," she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "Do I want one? Maybe. But I don’t feel unhappy or lonely. It would have to be someone so amazing that I would want to make room. Someone who would contribute to my happiness and not take away from it. I realize I have very high expectations and will probably have to compromise — but my life is so full. It’s not like, 'Aww, I wish I had a man.' After I had Xander, I went on a couple of dates and I was like, 'I'd rather be at home sleeping, or watching TV or hanging out with my kid.'"

Padma Lakshmi

Padma Lakshmi became pregnant in 2009 with her daughter, Krishna. While she didn't initially know who the father was (later revealed to be venture capitalist Adam Dell), she seemed open to single motherhood. "I was raised by a single mom. I was told I couldn't have children, so every day I am kissing the sky with happiness about it."

Sheryl Crow

After rising to incredible levels of success in music as well as winning a battle against cancer, Sheryl Crow adopted her two sons, Levi and Wyatt. 

Of life as a single mother and the uplifting process of adoption, Crow said, "Being diagnosed with [breast] cancer was a showstopper, for sure. I think it dictated that I reevaluate my life and set up new guidelines for the way I want to live." She told People, "Adopting my boys — that’s just been the biggest everlasting event that has informed everything and really for the better."

Hoda Kotb

The Good Morning America co-host adopted her daughter, Haley Joy, in 2017 at age 52, followed by daughter Hope Catherine in 2019. Kotb told People of this momentous occasion, “It’s one of those things where you think you’ve done it all, you think you’ve felt it all. But I just didn’t know that this kind of love existed.”

Angelina Jolie

Jolie’s first child, Maddox, was also the first child she adopted. Traveling to Cambodia, Jolie spoke in 2003 of the healing and renewing effect becoming a single mother was.

She also recalled to People how Maddox seemed to bond with her immediately while discussing how he came into her life. “Somebody told me that if you’re going to adopt an orphan, you should adopt from a country you love, because that’s the only history you’re going to share with them,” she said.

“I went into an orphanage and decided I’d not go for the cutest child but just go to the one that connected to me.” Jolie said of Maddox, “He was asleep, and he woke up and smiled. As soon as I saw him smile, I felt like this kid wasn’t uncomfortable with me. He seemed OK in my arms.”

Jolie became a mother multiple times over after that. She adopted her daughter Zahara in 2005 with then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, and she and Pitt adopted their son Pax in 2007. Soon after that, Jolie gave birth to her three youngest children: Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. 

Jolie is once again a single mother following her divorce from Pitt.

Meg Ryan

After her divorce from Dennis Quaid and before she began dating singer John Mellencamp, Meg Ryan adopted her daughter, Daisy, in 2006. In a 2007 People article, Ryan said, "I am convinced, completely convinced that there was nothing random about [the adoption]. She is the daughter I should have." 

Ryan additionally opened up about how she felt so compatible with Daisy and how that strengthened her bond with her daughter: "I never felt like I was on a rescue mission or anything like that. I just really wanted a baby; I was on a mission to connect with somebody, and Daisy and I got to meet each other in this way at this time. We are so compatible." 

Kristin Davis

The Sex and the City star adopted her daughter, Gemma Rose, in 2011. Davis told People at the time, "This is something I have wanted for a very long time. Having this wish come true is even more gratifying than I ever had imagined. I feel so blessed."

Edie Falco

In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Nurse Jackie star Edie Falco open up about why she wanted to adopt her son, Anderson, and her daughter, Macy. “At that time I was single and the idea to adopt came to me. I just knew at a certain point it was time to raise kids.” 

Falco joked at the time that her son thought adoption was the way all children related to their parents, implying that her children’s perception of their family was just as normal and celebrated as other families. “I don’t know if they know that not every one of their friends is adopted. My son says, ‘So then the lady has the baby in her belly, and then I [say], ‘And when the baby comes out, she gives the baby to the mommy.'” 

Calista Flockhart

In 2001, Flockhart adopted her son, Liam. Of the joyous occasion, Flockhart said, "I have always wanted to adopt a child and I am overjoyed that I have been blessed with a beautiful and healthy son. I'm completely enchanted and awe-struck." 

Mia Farrow

While actor Mia Farrow also has five biological children with ex-husbands André Previn and Woody Allen, she has always kept her home and heart open to the nine children whom she has adopted. Sadly, while three of her adopted children have passed away from health-related issues, what is consistent is Farrow's deep and abiding love for all of her children. She has been a warm and attentive mother. 

Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone reportedly survived multiple miscarriages and, through those unimaginably painful events, came out the other side with her heart open to adoption. That’s how she became a mom three times — in 2000, 2005, and 2006 — to sons Roan, Laird, and Quinn. 

In May 2017, her sons presented her with the Mother of the Year Award on Wednesday at the Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies Mother’s Day Luncheon. As she accepted that award, Stone told the audience that “Motherhood didn’t come easily, but it came lovingly to me by angels. We’re a happy and lucky family. That is the credo we stand for.” She went on to say, “We have a choice about what we teach our children — we have to stand tall and say yes to love.”

Denise Richards

After having two children with her now ex-husband, actor Charlie Sheen, Denise Richards decided she wanted to adopt in 2011. That’s how Eloise Joni Richards came into her life.

About the decision to adopt Eloise, Richards said, “I felt like I wasn’t done having children, and I’ve always wanted to have a large family. And so after my divorce I felt like, ‘Oh well, I’m sure I’ll soon enough get remarried and have my family [grow],’ and that wasn’t in the cards at the time, so I decided to expand my family on my own.”