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Sandra Bullock’s Son Louis Helped Her Adopt New Baby Laila — Siblings Have Tight Bond

By Shelley Hazen
Published on: 01:57 PST, Dec 2, 2015

Sandra Bullock has adopted a second child, a little girl named Laila, who has brought “pink and glitter in the house mixed with Legos and Batmans.”

Bullock adopted her 5-year-old son, Louis, in 2010, and the process to adopt Laila began three years ago. The child is from Louisiana and had been in foster care, E! News reported. Sandra was her foster mother first before adopting her.

Her son helped “spearhead” the journey to bring Laila into their family, Bullock told People in an exclusive interview. In the past three years, the children have formed a tight bond, and both Bullock and her son had to be patient and reassuring as the little girl finally joined their home for good.

“I knew she was scared, and all I wanted was for her to know Louis and I weren’t going anywhere. My family is blended and diverse, nutty, and loving and understanding. That’s a family.”

After adopting Louis, Bullock knew she wanted to adopt a foster child but had no preference about whether that second child was a boy or a girl. Her son, however, did have requirements for his new brother or sister, People‘s editorial director Jess Cagle told Today.

“The only thing that Louis said was, ‘I want a baby who’s brown. I want a sibling who’s brown like me,’ ” he said.

Only two months ago, Bullock denied that she was soon to be adopting Laila. When a journalist congratulated her on her new child, the actress quickly shot down the rumors, saying “There is only one adopted child in my household and his name is Louis. If I had a second adopted child, everyone would be hearing about it. I would be loud and clear and say ‘Yes, I have officially adopted a second child.’ Right now, Louis must be it.”

True to her word, the arrival of Laila has been celebrated not just with an exclusive interview, but a spread of photos.

The photographs of Bullock, Laila, and Louis were taken by Sandra’s boyfriend, Bryan Randall. In the cover photo, the actress is pictured holding her new daughter — whose back is to the camera — while her son grasps onto her legs, clad in a mask and superhero cape.

With her family now even bigger with the welcome addition of little Laila, Sandra seemed grateful to have crossed paths with her adopted children, Entertainment Weekly added.

“When I look at Laila, there’s no doubt in my mind that she was supposed to be here. I can tell you absolutely, the exact right children came to me at the exact right time.”

She said much the same thing back when she adopted her son, remembering fondly that she fell in love with him the minute she saw him.

“It was like the whole outside world got quiet. It was like he had always been a part of our lives.”

Since then, Sandra has gushed about motherhood and the positive effect Louis has had on her life. In particular, he has helped her let go of a laundry list of obsessive worries — like being authentic, ambitious, protective, and even picking up dog poop from the yard.

“Worrying used to be very paralyzing for me, and now I can talk myself off the ledge,” Sandra said.

Of course, Sandra’s small family is a diverse one. Both of her children are African American, and this has led to some candid conversations with her son, who fully understands what race means. Though, Bullock said “He doesn’t understand why people judge each other based on color of the skin, but he knows that they do.”

Bullock also struggles to balance society’s treatment of women with the challenge of raising a little boy to be a good man, a concern she raised in a recent interview, in which she lamented the media’s “open hunting season” on women and how they are attacked based on their appearance or age. With Laila in the house now, Sandra will have a new test on her hands.

But surely, Sandra will meet and overcome that challenge. The actress seems destined for motherhood and the two babies under her care are very lucky indeed. And there are plenty more children in need of a home. The actress hopes her kids will inspire others to take home more than 400,000 kids who are still in foster care.

“There are so many variations of families out there that are perfect. My family looks nothing like I ever imagined it would. It’s better than I ever imagined.”

[Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images]

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