Single mom we love

Sandra bullock







Sandra Bullock and her ex-husband Jesse James had adopted a baby boy, Louis Bardo Bullock, in January 2010, but kept the news secret until after the Academy Awards. When her marriage famously unraveled following James' multiple infidelities, Bullock decided to adopt Louis as a single mother and raise him on her own. "You wake up, you feed, you burp, you play, you do laundry," she toldPeople magazine in April 2010. "I'm still in that stage where I'm just amazed with him and at life."



Kate winslet





Fans were shocked when Kate Winslet split from Sam Mendes, her husband of nearly seven years, in March 2010. The Oscar-winning actress has two children--a 7-year-old son with Mendes and a 10-year-old daughter with her first husband Jim Threapleton, whom she divorced in 2001. She opened up to Glamour in March 2011 about the difficulties of raising kids, saying, "The challenge is making sure that they're never treated differently just because I sometimes am. I always want them to be regular kids who are grateful and respectful of other human beings." The biggest compliment you can give her about her children? "When the in-flight crew say to me, 'Your children are wonderful. They are so well-behaved.' Every time I am told that, I could weep," she said.



Sophia vergara



On ABC's "Modern Family", Sophia Vergara plays a feisty Columbian woman raising her son in a blended family. Her real life isn't so different--she had a son, Manolo, when she was 19 years old with her childhood sweetheart, whom she subsequently divorced. "I always tried to do the best for my kid," Vergara toldPeople magazine in November 2009. In October 2010, she and her son donnedmilk mustaches for a "Got Milk" ad. The caption read: "Family favorite. I love being a mom and doing what it takes to build a strong, modern family--like serving my little boy milk. It has nutrients like protein and potassium that have helped him become, well, not so little." Earlier this month, she stepped out at the 'Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty' Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.







Madonna





Twice-divorced Madonna has four children--two biological and two she adopted. She had her first child, Lourdes, with fitness instructor Carlos Leon in 1996. Prior to marrying her second husband, (first was Sean Penn in 1985) Guy Ritchie, in December 2000, she and the British director had their first child together, Rocco. They decided to adopt a Malawian baby, David, six years later in October 2006. After divorcing Ritchie in December 2008, Madonna adopted another Malawian child as a single mother in June 2009. "The best way to teach [my children] about sharing and giving is to do those things myself and set an example," Madonna told Parenting magazine.





Liv tyler





Liv Tyler took a 2-year break from show business after her split from British rocker Royston Langdon in May 2008. She admitted to having a "rough couple of years" following the birth of her son, Milo, and heartbreaking divorce. She opened up to Bust magazine in March 2011 about raising her 6-year-old son as a single mother. "Milo and I have been in such transition - I've been rebuilding and trying to be patient. And I've just put all of my focus on that," she said. "Because I can't go to work and be happy unless he's happy and feels secure." Tyler also recently attended the Alexandra McQueen Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.



Padma lakshmi



"Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi gave birth to her daughter, Krishna, in February 2010, but remained tight lipped on the identity of her baby's father. It was later revealed that venture capitalist Adam Dell fathered Krishna, though Lakshmi reportedly wanted nothing to do with him, preferring to raise her daughter on her own. She opened up to Celebrity Baby Scoop about motherhood in April 2011, saying, "In small ways and big ways it changes every aspect of your life. Everything is better and more meaningful. Motherhood is a very humbling experience."



Michelle Williams







Michelle Williams tragically became a single mother when her on-again, off-againbeau, Heath Ledger, passed away of an accidental drug overdose. The pair had a daughter, Matilda, in October 2005. In her first interview since Ledger'sJanuary 2008 death, Williams told Nightline's Cynthia Mcfadden in December 2010 that she tries to provide a normal life for her child, out of the spotlight. "It is of more importance to me then anything else in my life and I would rearrange anything to make that possible," she said. "If something starts to encroach on that then it's going to be removed from the equation



Tory Burch



Fashion designer Tory Burch split from her second husband, venture capitalist Chris Burch, in 2006. She and Burch have three sons, whom she described as "the light of my life" to NBC in January 2010. Being a working mother is her "biggest challenge," she said, "But obviously being a mom comes first and everything else comes after that, and that really is what matters."