he’s one of the world’s biggest and most acclaimed actresses, with directors and A-listers lining up to work with her, and a litany of awards to her name. But throughout her long stellar career, Nicole Kidman has always prided herself on being a mother first and foremost…which makes her challenges in that department all the more poignant.
As fans will know, the 59 year old has long had an infamously rocky relationship with her two older children, Bella, 33, and Connor, 31, whom she adopted with her ex-husband Tom Cruise. After splitting from Tom in 2001, the kids stayed with him and were raised under the auspices of his beloved Scientology – fundamentally casting Nicole out of their childhoods.
She later went on to have two more daughters, Sunday Rose, 18, and Faith Margaret, 15, with her now second ex-husband, Keith Urban. But that too wasn’t without its challenges, as Nicole – who welcomed the girls via surrogacy – later spoke about her heartbreak over not being able to have more children.
Now, we’re told, the actress is feeling wistful, and wishful, over what’s next. Having finalised her divorce from Keith last year after 19 years of marriage, she’s since plunged herself into a brave and bold new chapter, savouring quality time with family and friends more than ever – including re-building bonds with her older kids – while also pushing herself out on of her comfort zone in her work and personal life.
But, as insiders tell us, there’s one niggling ‘What if?’ that continues to consume her – and that’s when it comes to potentially adopting again. With unlimited resources to her name, and a roll call of female friends who have also done it alone, she doesn’t see why her age or the fact she’s single should stop her going down that route. We’re told she’s seriously considering it, going one step closer to building that huge family she always dreamed of.
‘Nicole has stepped into her most empowered chapter ever – she has total agency over her life and that’s really sinking in,’ says an insider close to the Aussie star, who debuted a stunning front cover for British Vogue this week alongside a candid interview, in which she spoke about the recent ‘stealth’ summer she spent travelling all over Europe and even going to the odd rave or two.
‘As a result, she is more self-assured and realises that the world truly is her oyster. She has the means to do whatever she wants, and that includes adding to her family. Doing it on her own is very appealing in a lot of ways, though she isn’t opposed to doing it with a partner.
‘There was a time when she and Keith were actively interested in adoption. It was something they were very serious about, but between their careers and the challenges in their marriage, it just never happened. Looking back, it was probably for the best. But she hasn’t lost interest in the idea.’
By all accounts, Nicole’s hopes to now start rebuilding her family really haven’t come from nowhere. Back in 2021, she told Marie Claire Australia that one of her biggest regrets was not being able to expand her brood. She said at the time, ‘I wish I’d had more children, but I wasn’t given that choice…I would’ve loved 10 kids,’ adding, ‘But that’s OK. I get to mother other children. I have six nieces and nephews and I’m godmother to 12. I love mothering. I love kids and what they say.
The actress had previously spoken about her fertility struggles – having first suffered an ectopic pregnancy at 23, when she was newly married to movie star Tom. She also suffered a miscarriage years later, shortly before they divorced, later saying, ‘I know the yearning…The loss of a miscarriage is not talked about enough.’
As for her pain over her estrangement from Bella and Connor, those are scars that run deep. When she and Tom first split, Nicole was labelled an ‘SP’ or ‘suppressive person’ by the Church of Scientology, effectively blacklisting her from the lives of anybody belonging to the pseudo-religion. For that reason, she was reportedly banished from her kids’ lives in their formative years.
Nicole later spoke about the schism in 2019. ‘They are able to make their own choices,’ she said of Connor and Bella. ‘They have made choices to be Scientologists and, as a mother, it’s my job to love them. And I am an example of that tolerance and that’s what I believe – that no matter what your child does, the child has love and the child has to know there is available love, and I’m open here.’
In recent years, Nicole’s happily rebuilt some bridges between them – especially with Bella, who lives in London and is no longer believed to be so enveloped within the Church of Scientology. Bella has frequently ‘liked’ Nicole’s Instagram posts and is also said to have formed a close bond with her younger sisters.
But still, there’s no way to fully heal the trauma of all those lost years, which makes Nicole’s hopes of now adopting again hold even deeper meaning.
What’s more, as our source explains, she’s been inspired even more by her close friend Sandra Bullock, who’s mum to Louis, 16, and Laila, 14 – both of whom she adopted as a single mother. Nicole and Sandra, 62, spent quality time with each other’s families last year while filming Practical Magic 2 – and, having witnessed the close bond Sandra has with her kids, we’re told Nicole’s feeling emboldened to follow in her footsteps.
‘She’s had a front row seat to Sandra’s journey,’ our source reveals. ‘Seeing Sandra adopt as a single mother has given her a lot of confidence that it’s the right choice for her, too. If she meets the right man to share that journey with one day, wonderful. But she doesn’t see that as a requirement anymore. Sandra has shown her there’s more than one way to build a family, and there are advantages to doing it on your own, including never having to worry about a custody battle.’
Speaking to Vogue in her wide-ranging interview this week, Nicole got reflective while discussing her new life, one year on from her and Keith’s shock split. The star – who’s reportedly in the early stages of dating American private equity investor Michael Reinstein – said it hadn’t been easy, adding, ‘You make all these plans and you have all these ideas of what it’s going to be like and then it’s not…You have to adjust. You adapt. The future, it’s completely unknown to me right know. Strange.’
Nevertheless, it’s being a mother that keeps her going. ‘It’s an extraordinary purpose,’ she said. ‘Everything else is not important. These kids now, that’s what we drop everything for.’
With that said – and with her 60th birthday on the horizon in June 2027 – you can rest assured Nicole’s ready for whatever the future holds. Whether or not that includes more Kidman kids remains to be seen.
