Sandra Bullock and children - family facts

2003 - 2011

Having formerly dated actors Tate Donovan, Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Gosling, the successful Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock started dating Jesse James in 2003.

Sandra and Jesse met because Sandra's godson, Bryan, who was 10 at the time, desperately wanted to meet the Monster Garage host. Sandra arranged a meeting in December 2003 for Bryan's Christmas present. Sandra and Jesse began to date and a year later, on July 16, 2005, they married.

Once married, Sandra became stepmum to Jesse's three children, Chandler, Jesse James Jr and Sunny, from his previous relationships.

"My love and want for their future and their happiness, for their homework to be done and for them to know how smart and beautiful they are is no less than if I had a child on my own," said Sandra about her stepchildren in an interview at the time.

In November 2009, Sandra was caught up in a bitter custody battle with Sunny's mum and Jesse's ex-wife, Janine Lindermulder. Jesse and Sandra applied for full custody of Sunny, claiming Janine, an ex-porn star, was an unfit mum. Subsequently, Jesse and Sandra won full legal custody of 5-year-old Sunny. Rumours began to speculate that Sandra and Jesse were trying to conceive.

In March 2010, eight days after Sandra won an Oscar for The Blind Side, Jesse admitted he had been unfaithful and the couple split up. Sandra cleared her schedule and went into hiding, while Jesse checked into rehab.

When Sandra and Jesse's divorce finalised, Sandra was so scared of losing Sunny, despite not being Sunny's biological mum, that she began her own custody battle.

While outsiders believed that Sandra had gone into hiding following her marriage breakdown, the Miss Congeniality actress was actually trying to conceal an ever bigger secret!

Emerging back into the spotlight in April 2010, Sandra appeared on the front cover of People magazine, with her 3-month-old adopted son, Louis Bardo!

"There are so many reasons I decided to keep it a secret. The outside world had gone a little crazy then. Photographers were waiting outside 24/7, people everywhere. I wanted him all to myself," she told People.

It emerged that Sandra and Jesse had begun an adoption process four years earlier, and that Sandra had gone ahead with the adoption on her own when they split.

The actress made it clear that her three stepchildren are Louis' siblings, "He couldn't ask for better siblings who love him with all their heart," Sandra said.

In November 2010, it was rumoured that Sandra was in the process of adopting a sibling for Louis, using the same agency in New Orleans. This time, was allegedly a girl.

Returning back to her busy schedule making films, Sandra was spotted spending some quality time with 15-month-old Louis. It was also rumoured that Sandra was keeping an eye on schools for the little boy, allegedly wanting Louis to go to the same French-speaking school as the Jolie-Pitt clan.

2012 - 2016

As of June 2015, Sandra has been dating photographer Bryan Randall, who has a daughter from a previous relationship.

In December 2015, Sandra appeared on the cover of People magazine with a big announcement: she'd adopted a 3-year-old girl from Louisiana.

Speaking of her daughter, named Laila, Sandra revealed to the mag that she'd first gone through the fostering process before officially adopting her. She first began the process in 2012, according to the same interview.

Bullock says of the family first coming together: "I knew she [Laila] 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."

Sandra famously does not use social media at all, let alone to post photos of herself or her children. But in December 2016, Sandra was spotted filming Ocean's 8 in New York City, pictured above.

Images: Helga Esteb/Shutterstock, Getty

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