By Jennifer Hillman, Staff Writer
Sandra Bullock may soon be gearing up to make play dates with Knox and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.
Don’t worry; you didn’t miss a big baby bump on Sandra Bullock at the Oscars. Bullock adopted Louis Bardo Bullock, a 3-month-old African American baby boy from New Orleans with then husband Jesse James.
Bullock has since filed for divorce from James after his rising infidelity, which started to emerge after her Oscar win in March. She will adopt Louis as a single mother, but James will still be a part of the child’s life.
“I really don’t know how our paths will intersect in the future, but the father I have known Jesse to be with all the kids is the one that I hope Louis can experience one day, no matter how Jesse and I go on with our lives,” said Bullock in an exclusive interview with People Magazine.
Louis was kept a secret for three months because Bullock didn’t want to bring Louis into the whirlwind of cameras and press during the award shows, especially when the Oscar nominees were announced.
“I did not want him brought into a world that would have not been as sincere to him as I would have wanted. I selfishly wanted to be with him alone for as long as I could, and [then], when we had to, tell his story.”
Bullock is not the first celebrity to adopt from the United States or internationally.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are the front-runners of that race. Jolie and Pitt already have three adopted children along with three biological children. The three adopted children include Maddox from Cambodia, Zahara from Ethiopia and Pax from Vietnam. Jolie and Pitt’s three biological children are Shiloh and the twins, Knox and Vivienne.
Jolie once told People Magazine why she adopted: “There’s something about making a choice, waking up and traveling somewhere and finding your family.”
Other celebrities who have adopted internationally include Madonna, Meg Ryan and most recently Katherine Heigl.
Madonna adopted her daughter, Mercy, from Malawi in June 2009. Meg Ryan adopted her daughter, Daisy, from China in 2006.
Katherine Heigl just brought her baby girl, Naleigh, home from South Korea in September 2009.
It was very important to Heigl to adopt from South Korea because her own sister, Meg, was adopted from there.
Heigl told USA Today that she was more focused on adopting than having her own.
“I’m done with the whole idea of having my own children,” said Heigl.
Bullock’s decision to adopt a child from the United States, but specifically New Orleans, was because she has always had a strong attachment to New Orleans.
“I don’t know if it was important to adopt from New Orleans, but it was important to adopt from the U.S. New Orleans for both of us was a place that we loved, a place that had a lot of history for both of us and a place I couldn’t let go of. I don’t know why there was always something in my head about New Orleans and a child, but I am blessed and lucky that there was.”
Bullock’s Oscar winning role from “The Blind Side” involved portraying Leigh Anne Tuohy who lived in New Orleans and adopted the African American boy, Michael Oher, into her family.
Also, after Hurricane Katrina happened, Bullock put her heart into supporting the Warren Easton Charter High School, which was ravaged and destroyed, and helped them renovate it.
Bullock certainly won’t be the last celebrity to adopt a child from the United States or internationally. You never know, the “Brangelina” brood might be looking to add another in the coming months.