Adoption

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There was no looking back for Mary-Louise Parker when she made the decision to adopt a child from Ethiopia in 2007, the actress tells OK! “Some people are drawn to do it, and I felt like if I don’t do it now, I’m going to regret it my whole life so I just went ahead and did it,” she says.

Welcoming daughter Caroline Aberash, now 3, into her home — which she shares with son William Atticus, 5 ½ — was not a problem; The Weeds actress reveals that the pair hit it off from the start! “They get along like siblings,” she muses.

“They’re brother and sister. They’ve always been brother and sister.”

Calling the journey of adoption “magical,” Mary-Louise urges people to step forth and consider expanding their family. “There’s no downside to it. Unless you’re a mean, horrible person and you plan to make them clean your garbage up or something, there’s nothing bad about it,” she advocates.

“This is going to sound very strange, but even if you’re a mediocre parent, you’re going to give them way more than they have now. You’re going to give them attention, food, and clothes.”

In fact, the 45-year-old may just take her own advice! “I might do it again,” she reveals of her adoption plans. “I would love to, but children take a lot of energy. They’re a lot of fun.”

As for parenting tips, Mary-Louise isn’t willing to offer any — she believes each parent will eventually find their own way. “I think every kid is different,” she explains. “You have to figure it out on your own.”

William is Mary-Louise’s son with actor Billy Crudup.

Source: OK!

– Anya

Frazer Harrison/Getty

Jon Cryer and his wife, Lisa Joyner, have adopted a baby girl, the Two and a Half Men Emmy winner’s rep confirms to PEOPLE.

The infant, named Daisy, was born August 11th and is the second child for Jon, 44, and first for Lisa, 42, who married in June 2007.

On September 20th, while picking up his Emmy as outstanding supporting actor on a comedy series for his CBS show, Jon mentioned his “baby girl” in his acceptance speech.

The actor also has a son, Charlie Austin, 9, from a previous marriage.

– Monica Rizzo

Michael Buckner/Wireimage

The future Sheryl Crow envisioned for herself only a few short years ago was nothing out of the ordinary: a house, a husband, and a family. However, when the songstress realized that her path in life had taken an unexpected turn, she was more than happy to work with the cards she had been dealt. “I had to let go of this picture I’d always painted about my life,” she reveals in the October issue of Health magazine.

Intent on having children, Sheryl was undeterred by her single status; She began the journey to expand her family through adoption. “At the time I was considering adoption, everything else had sort of not worked,” she admits. More than willing to “let go of the story you tell,” to open up new doors “for other things to come in,” Sheryl committed herself to finding her child.

“I always knew that I wanted to be a mom, so I just had great faith that when that little person found me, that I would be ready and everything would be fine.”

Fine, indeed! Sheryl became the proud mama of her now 2-year-old son Wyatt Steven in 2007. Full swing into motherhood — and clearly loving it — the 47-year-old makes manners a priority in her household, most noticeably respect. “Respect is huge — respect for the planet and honoring and loving this organism that sustains all of us,” she says.

In addition to being respectful, Sheryl notes, her toddler will also grow up with a kind heart.

“Try to make every decision out of compassion, which encompasses how you treat the planet and every person.”

Despite her celebrity status, Sheryl laughs that she is kept in check by none other than her love of music. “Yesterday, I took Wyatt to Little Gym…and there was a version of ‘When You Wish Upon a Star,’ by I think, Take 6 on. And it just slayed me,” she shares. “I found that now the songs that I go to are songs that I grew up with, like ‘Someone to Watch Over Me.’ It’s comforting to me as a mother, and it’s comforting to me as a human being, that there is something bigger than myself out there.”

Source: Health

– Anya

Alpha/Landov

The question of whether or not to have children is one that most couples will tackle early on in their relationship, but for Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley “the talk” took on a decidedly non-traditional tone.

In an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show airing Friday, the 30-year-old Grey’s Anatomy star said that she first broached the topic of adoption with Josh before the couple were even engaged.

Noting that her sister Meg Heigl is Korean and that adopting from Korea was something she “always knew” she wanted to do, Katherine says that making her intentions “really clear” to her paramour was key. “Not everybody is down with that,” she notes. “Not everybody thinks that.”

“I just wanted to make sure that I was marrying a guy who understands that this was going to have to happen.”

Happen, indeed! The couple will welcome their first child — a 9 ½-month-old daughter named Naleigh — “real, real soon” after initiating her adoption “about a year ago,” according to Katherine. “The process is intense,” she notes, citing a 40-page questionnaire which covered everything from their upbringings to their respective parenting philosophies. “These are very valid questions,” Katherine points out. “You think about some of these things. You talk about some of these things but you don’t really get into the mix of it until you’re looking at these questions going, ‘Oh my God we better answer these right otherwise they won’t give us the baby.”

“It’s different, but it isn’t. It’s just as intense I’m sure to have a baby biologically because you’re going through the whole physical sort of thing of it.”

Naleigh — named “after my mother and sister Nancy, Leigh” — was able to be adopted on an expedited basis because she has special needs. “They wanted to get her to us as quickly as possible,” Katherine says, explaining that the timing played a role in her decision to break the news. “I wanted to tell everybody so you don’t think I stole a Korean baby!” she laughs.

And although they haven’t met yet, mother and baby already have at least one thing in common — a birth sign! “She was actually born the day before me in November which I thought was really serendipitous and just kind of like a sign,” Katherine notes. “I realized just recently that I basically forfeited my birthday for the rest of my life.”

Source: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

– Missy

Lisa Rose/JPI

Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl and her husband, singer/songwriter Josh Kelley, are adopting a baby girl from Korea, her rep confirms. The actress, 30, will officially announce the news on Friday’s Ellen DeGeneres Show.

RadarOnline.com was first to report the news.

Katherine has been open about the couple’s plans to adopt, citing her sister Meg — who was adopted from Korea herself — as an inspiration.

“It’s definitely something we’ve talked about and want to do. I want to honor her and her part in my life. I think adoption is a hugely important thing.”

Source: PEOPLE

Jen Lowery/Startraks

Willie Garson will soon be packing his bags and relocating to New York to film Sex and the City 2; this time, however, he will not be making the move alone.

Following years of planning, Garson tells TV Guide Magazine that he is in the process of finalizing the adoption of an 8-year-old boy, Nathan.

With his heart set on a toddler, Willie, 45, was taken by surprise upon meeting Nathan during an adoption fair in Los Angeles.

“It’s like a pet fair – as horrifying as you can imagine,” he recalls. “It was really hard. The 16-year-old fat, ugly kid, who has probably been to 30 of these, knows he’s not going to get adopted. Like everything, cute wins.”

To that end, Willie was shocked that his son was still in the system. “I couldn’t believe my kid was actually available for adoption,” says the doting dad. “He’s so cute and sweet.”

With the father-son duo living together since February, Willie reveals that the boy is adjusting well. “He’s going into third grade, plays baseball, goes to karate and has a posse of pals,” he notes. And despite the upcoming move cross country, the actor will continue to encourage a relationship between Nathan and his biological mother.

“For many reasons, she couldn’t care for him, but I will never let her not see him,” he explains.

In addition to adapting to his new home, Nathan will also be exposed to his father’s celebrity status. “I think he’s going to be freaked out when we go to New York, where [the SATC cast] are like the Yankees,” jokes Willie. “We can’t walk 20 feet without being mobbed.”

Taking advantage of his time in New York, the actor, who will resume his role as Carrie Bradshaw’s pal Stanford Blatch in SATC, will also begin filming his role on the new series White Collar.

Source: TV Guide

Thanks to CBB reader Meghan.

– Anya

Danny Martindale/WireImage

Model Jools Oliver always knew she wanted a family, but also suspected it would not be as simple as it sounded. “Even when I was 17, I thought there might be a problem and that I’d have trouble conceiving because my periods were irregular,” notes Jools, now mom to daughters Poppy Honey, 7, Daisy Boo, 6, and Petal Blossom Rainbow, 3 ½ months.

After Jools married celebrity chef Jamie Oliver in 2000, the couple started trying for a baby without success. Soon after, the pair decided to have testing done to see what the problem was. “I was quite quickly diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which meant that I wasn’t ovulating each month like normal,” she explains. Despite the diagnosis, Jools was unfazed by the road ahead.

“You hear horror stories and you think it’s going to be hard, but I didn’t care. I just wanted a baby.”

Jools made the decision to take the drug Clomid, which stimulates ovulation. “I had all the side effects,” she remembers. “Dizziness, panic attacks, blurred vision.” However, she was “determined to get the thing done. It was awful, but I just thought: ‘Keep going.’ I’m sure any couple that has been through fertility treatment understands what I’m saying.”

Even more paralyzing than the side effects was the fear that Clomid wouldn’t work. “I think I spent lots of time panicking and that made the effects of the drug worse,” she admits. “It was a hard few months and there was so much pressure on us both. It was especially tough for Jamie because he was working. It’s not a nice way to try to get a baby really.”

After months of trying, the couple learned that a baby was on the way. An overjoyed Jools “fell in love” with the doctor that helped her and Jamie achieve their dream. “I suppose I’m just another patient to him,” she muses, “but if I go back to the hospital for a check-up and see him, I always think about what he did for me. He probably does it every day, but for me it was a miracle.”

Click below to read about Petal’s arrival, the girls schedule and if more kids will be on the way.

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Ever since she was a little girl, Mary-Louise Parker was certain of one thing: one day, when old enough, she would adopt.

“I would daydream about it all the time,” the Emmy-nominated star of Weeds, now in its fifth season, told PEOPLE earlier this summer at a benefit for Worldwide Orphans Foundation hosted by La Perla in Beverly Hills. “I thought about the fact that there were children who didn’t have anything, and I felt like I could help. It was something that weighed on me.”

In August of 2007, Parker, already a single mom to William Atticus, her son with former boyfriend Billy Crudup, made her childhood dream a reality when she went to Africa with Worldwide Orphans and made Caroline Aberash, whom she calls Ash, part of her family.

“It was something I did for the world and for my son and then for me,” Mary Louise, 44, said of adding a second child to her family. “And when I say the world, I also mean my daughter. Once I knew her, she became part of that. But it’s hard raising two kids as a single person. It’s a lot of pressure.”

Does she wish she had a fulltime partner to share that pressure with? “Sometimes, sure,” says the actress, who has been single since her on-again off-again relationship with actor Jeffery Dean Morgan ended earlier this year. “I wish I could give them everything that was a perfect little family paradigm, but I can’t. Honestly, I feel like that doesn’t even exist, or at least I try to tell myself that when I am feeling bad about not providing it.”

Click below to read about how Mary Louise prepared William for getting a sibling.
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Former World Series MVP Cole Hamels and his wife, Survivor alum Heidi Strobel, are seeing blue! The Philadelphia Phillies star shared that he and his wife recently learned that the baby that they are expecting this fall is a little boy. “We’re excited,” said Cole, 25. “Hopefully we’ll be headed for the World Series when it happens.”

The couple’s original plans were to travel to Ethiopia in December to adopt a little girl, but the pregnancy has delayed that for approximately six to nine months.

“We still plan on adopting. [The pregnancy] is something we were planning on doing anyway. We’re going to adopt a girl, and it will be great for her to grow up with a brother. They’ll be like twins.”

Cole and Heidi, who were married in 2006, announced their pregnancy earlier this month.

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

–- Angela

Neilson Barnard/Gett

The term dinner party takes on a whole new meaning in the Parker household! Appearing on the cover of Web MD’s May issue, Mary Louise Parker proudly declares herself a balanced parent, “from permissive to disciplinarian,” adding that she provides a sense of structure for both William Atticus, 5 ½, and Caroline ‘Ash’ Aberash, 2 ½.

While she keeps a strict bedtime and is a stickler for manners, Mary Louise is also known for her impromptu dance parties. “Sometimes we’ll get up in the middle of dinner and have a dance party just because there’s music on and everybody’s happy,” she says. The fun doesn’t stop there for her children — the 44-year-old mom nurtures their artistic talents as well!

“There’s also one wall in my living room that the kids are allowed to paint on, and sometimes we’ll empty all the food that’s gone bad out of the refrigerator, put it in a bucket, mash it around, call it witches’ brew.”

Expanding her family of two with the adoption of her daughter in 2007, Mary Louise, admits undertaking the responsibility as a single mother was intimidating to say the least! “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 shares. Initially concentrating on Vietnam as her country of choice, when the actress was approached about the possibility of a child from Ethiopia, she never looked back. “It had never occurred to me before, but … I wanted to go somewhere where there was a need,” she explains.

“It’s not like I only wanted to enlarge my family. I really wanted to give a child a home.”

Despite her complete devotion to bringing baby girl home, Mary Louise admits both her and Ash faced criticism following their return. “Somebody asked what her name was, and I told them Aberash,” she recalls. “They said, ‘Did you make that up or did she come with that?’ Like she was a car!” That said, the proud mama was determined to keep her little girl’s name — the only gift, she says, the child had left from her biological mother.

“I can’t give her a locket, a picture, a letter — that’s it. That’s profound to me and I don’t want to rob her of it.”

William is the actress’ only child with actor Billy Crudup.

Source: Web MD; May issue

– Anya