NEW YORK (AP) - Sandra Bullock has filed for divorce from her
husband, Jesse James, and is adopting a baby boy as a single
parent.
"Yes, I have filed for divorce," the 45-year-old Oscar-winning
actress said in an interview with People magazine, posted Wednesday
on its website. "I'm sad and I am scared."
Bullock and James, 41, began the adoption process four years
ago, the People article said, and brought 3 1/2-month-old Louis
Bardo Bullock home in January but decided to keep the news to
themselves until after the Academy Awards.
In the interview, Bullock said she is savoring her new maternal
status.
"You wake up, you feed, you burp, you play, you do laundry,"
she said. "I'm still in that stage where I'm just amazed with him
and at life."
"All I said when I met him was, 'Oh, there you are.' It was
like he had always been a part of our lives."
The baby, called Louie, is named after jazz great Louis
Armstrong, who had particularly touched Bullock with his signature
song, "What a Wonderful World," she said. The child was born in
New Orleans, a city where Bullock and James had both spent time
after Katrina.
Bullock said she and James sought to pull no strings as they
submitted to the typically time-consuming screening process, with
no thoughts to the gender or background of the child they might
receive.
"We somehow knew the right little person would come," she
said.
Bullock said she got the call that a baby might be available for
adoption during what she described as "the media craziness of the
awards season." Deciding to shield Louis from that turmoil, she
kept his existence hidden from all but a few trusted associates and
loved ones. Her life (and his) became an ongoing process of secrecy
and diversion.
"Just the doctors' visits were filled with decoys and dark
cars," she said. "People that I had worked with for years
couldn't understand why I wouldn't let them into my house for
(Oscar ceremony gown) fittings."
James and Bullock separated in March after five years of
marriage, following reports that James had been unfaithful.
Bullock won the Oscar for best actress for her role in the
blockbuster hit "The Blind Side," on March 7. Within days of her
win, the cheating allegations became public and Bullock went into
seclusion.
The motorcycle mogul publicly apologized to Bullock and his
children, Sunny, 6; Jesse Jr., 12; and Chandler, 15. He recently
returned home after a 30-day stay in a treatment facility where he
sought help for "personal issues," the People story said.
When asked about whether James had cheated, Bullock said she
"had no idea about anything."
"I did the only thing I could do, and that was to pack enough
clothes to live on, get all of Louis' things and get out of town.
My main concern was Louis."
When asked whether James will have any formal parenting role,
she replied, "I will be adopting as a single parent. Anything else
will be taken day by day."
Of her relationship with James' three children, Bullock said,
"I don't want to know what life is like without those kids. ...
Whatever we need to do, in the healthiest way, we are going to be
co-parenting."
Looking ahead to life without James, Bullock said, "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 one that I
hope Louis can experience one day, no matter how Jesse and I go on
with our lives."
News of the adoption quickly seized the attention of Bullock
watchers and fellow celebrities alike.
On Wednesday morning's "Live! With Regis and Kelly," host
Regis Philbin held up a copy of People magazine, which shows
Bullock smiling at her baby son as she holds him aloft.
"It's not very easy to adopt a baby," Philbin said.
He's cute, chirped co-host Kelly Ripa.
"Lucky little guy, too," said Philbin.
And on Twitter, early entries saluted the new mother: "Sandra
Bullock is a true role model," posted judyavanness. "True grace
under pressure."
"Good for Sandy! Soo cute! The best love is from your child!"
declared LScott17.

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