I don’t know much about Connie Britton from “American Horror Story,” but I love watching her every week. (She was also in “Friday Night Lights,” which I’ve heard is awesome but haven’t seen.) She’s a great actress, and I enjoy the fact that she’s a little older and that she hasn’t messed with her face from what we can see. Plus she’s beautiful and I covet her hair. I have long reddish blonde hair too, and I’ve been curling mine more after seeing how great Britton’s hair looks on that show. Anyway Britton just adopted a baby boy from Ethiopia. She’s 44 and is divorced, having split with her first and only husband to date when she was just 29. I found a Redbook interview she did in 2009 where she said she was dating a comedy writer named Jason Mantzoukas. (Mantzoukas co-starred with her in a movie that premiered at film festivals earlier this year called Conception and I guess he’s also been a guest star on “Parks and Recreation.”) I can’t confirm whether she’s still with him, though. Here’s more on her new baby:

For years, Connie Britton has been hard at work on her acclaimed show Friday Night Lights and most recently on the new hit American Horror Story.

But the actress, 44, has just been cast in her most rewarding role yet: Mom. She’s adopted a 9-month-old baby boy from Ethiopia, Britton tells PEOPLE exclusively.

After a three-year-long adoption process, the actress’s dream of motherhood came true about a week ago, after she returned from the African country with her son Yoby – a nickname for Eyob, his given name.

“I am thanking my lucky stars every day,” Britton, 44, tells PEOPLE.

The day she first held her son in her arms was something the new mom will never forget.

“It was such a wonderful moment of completion,” she says. “I thought I was going to collapse into a puddle of tears. I was just grinning from ear to ear.”

[From People]

That’s awesome, congratulations to her! Britton told Redbook in 2009 that she was looking forward to maybe remarrying at some point and having children. She said “I do feel like I would get married again, and I still want to have kids.” She also said that hitting her 40s has helped her slow down and appreciate life. “There isn’t this mania to get everything so right. Now what I really want to do is just enjoy my life and fill the moments with living, with people I love, things I enjoy, and work that inspires me.”

Britton’s character on “American Horror Story” may have a child soon too. Her character Vivian Harmon is currently pregnant, and it’s being foreshadowed on the show that it’s some kind of demon spawn. I’m kind of fascinated by that show but it’s gradually losing it’s appeal for me. They use every horror movie cliche in the book, and just when I think they’re ready to dial it back a notch they throw in some more complicated plot points. They’re walking a very fine line between being campy and scary.

Photos are from this year. Credit: WENN.com

Wow, Mariska Hargitay is baby-crazy! People Magazine confirms that Mariska and her husband Peter Hermann have adopted for the second time, welcoming their third child into their family. Mariska and Peter have a biological son, August, who is five years old, and they just adopted daughter Amaya six months ago. Their second adoption was for a little boy who they’ve named Andrew (one of my favorite boy names!). People Magazine only identifies Andrew as being born “over the summer.” I think Amaya must be about six or seven months old now, and judging from the photo of Mariska with Amaya and Andrew, Andrew looks very, very small.

When Mariska Hargitay welcomed her daughter Amaya Josephine six months ago, she started thinking about adopting another child down the line.

She never imagined the new addition would be right around the corner.

Within a week of processing their paperwork for the second time, Hargitay, 47, and her husband Peter Hermann brought home a son, Andrew Nicolas Hargitay Hermann, who was born over the summer.

“We never in a million year thought it would happen this quickly, but something inside of us knew that this was right, and we said, ‘Yes, yes, yes!’” says Hargitay, who is also mom to son August, 5.

“We knew this was our guy. Everything about it felt right. It felt divinely right.”

Two babies may be a handful, but the Law & Order: SVU actress — who will continue working four days a week — says Andrew and Amaya have already bonded.

“They’ll lie in the crib together, and she’ll hold his hand and put her arm around him,” says Hargitay. “She’s already so protective of him.”

[From People]

Wow, they got another baby WITHIN A WEEK. At first I thought that maybe Mariska and Peter had pursued adoptions at several different agencies, and then they were just thrilled that two babies came up for adoption, but it sounds like they used the same agency for both, right? I guess the agency had already thoroughly vetted Mariska and Peter, so the second adoption was a lot faster.

Incidentally, Viola Davis also adopted a little girl very recently too – Viola named her girl Genesis… are they going to call her “Genny”? Hmm…

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Exciting news for Sex and the City’s Kristin Davis – she just became a mom! Well, not “just”. Apparently, Kristin adopted a little girl through a domestic adoption process several months ago. Kristin named the baby girl Gemma Rose Davis. As far as I know, Kristin is not in a relationship with a man or a woman (there are rumors that she’s a lesbian, but I’ve never seen anything confirmed), so I’m assuming Kristin will be raising Gemma as a single mom. She issued a statement (and a photo, here) to People Mag:

Kristin Davis is a new mom!

The Sex and the City star, 46, welcomed daughter Gemma Rose Davis through domestic adoption a few months ago, PEOPLE has confirmed exclusively.

“This is something I have wanted for a very long time,” Davis tells PEOPLE. “Having this wish come true is even more gratifying than I ever had imagined. I feel so blessed.”

Davis, who is a global ambassador for Oxfam and a patron for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, will next be seen in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

[From People]

Congratulations to Kristin! I like it when celebrities fly under the radar so effectively. Kristin is never in the tabloids, even when she’s promoting something. While the Sex & the City set was, at times, consumed by a catfight between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker, I never heard anything about Kristin fighting with any of her costars, on that series or any project. So… my verdict is that she’s just the kind of sweet, stable and charitable woman who should be a mom.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Those of you who read us regularly know that I love Hugh Jackman. I just think he’s a genuinely nice guy and super hot to boot. My admiration of Hugh crept up on me. While I’ve had crushes on other celebrities like Matt Damon and Johnny Depp forever, Hugh earned my fangirl status from his actions and interviews. Anyway here’s another reason to love Hugh. In a new interview with Australian newspaper The Herald Sun, the 42 year-old actor opens up about how he and his wife of 15 years, Deborra-Lee Furness, struggled with infertility before deciding to adopt. They are now parents to son Oscar, 11, and daughter Ava, six. Hugh describes it as very difficult to get to the point of adopting, but ultimately rewarding. He also sees the adoption of his two children as fated. It’s touching the way he explains it.

The 42-year-old star is married to wife Deborra-Lee Furness and they have two adopted children – Oscar, 11, and Ava, six.

He spoke to Australia’s Herald Sun about the moment they discovered they weren’t able to have children naturally.

He said: ‘It was painful. It’s not easy. You put a lot of time and effort into it, so it’s emotional.

‘I think any parent can relate – trying to have children is wonderful and when you feel as though that’s not going to happen, there’s a certain anxiety that goes with it.’

He added: ‘We thought we’d have a kid or two biologically and then adopt. But when we decided we’d had enough of IVF, we went ahead with adoption.’

However the couple soon moved on with their plans to become parents.

Jackman said: ‘From the moment we started the adoption process, all the anxiety went away. I don’t think of them as adopted – they’re our children.

‘Deb and I are believers in I suppose you could call it destiny. We feel things happened the way they are meant to. Obviously, biologically wasn’t the way we were meant to have children.

‘Now, as we go through life together, sure there are challenges, but everyone’s in the right place with the right people. It sounds airy-fairy, but it’s something we feel very deeply.’

[From The Daily Mail]

That’s so nice! Hugh and Deborra have been open about this issue, and are involved in several adoption charities. I found this moving interview with Deborra from 2004, before their second child was adopted. She said she’d had two miscarriages before they decided to adopt Oscar. Back when Oscar’s mother was pregnant and Deborra and Hugh were meeting with her about adopting the baby, Deborra thinks she was given a sign that he was meant to be their son. She described how she was in an airplane and saw a lightning storm over Iowa, where his birth mother is from. Here’s that part:

“And I kept saying to Hugh when we were in discussions early on. I said I havn’t got a message yet, I’m waiting for a message. And I was on a flight from Los Angeles to Toronto where Hugh was shooting X-Men 1, I think it was, and I was sitting on this flight and I looked out the window and there was this incredible electric storm outside the window and it was so beautiful, I was just staring at it and I said to the guy sitting next to me, “Wow, look at that, it’s amazing, where are we, and he said I think we’re somewhere over Iowa,” And I, I knew that that was the birth mother I had been speaking to and I grabbed the stewardess and I said do you know where we are and she said oh come up here and took me up to the pilot’s cabin it was before September 11, and went in there and I said where are we? And he said, see down there, there’s Cedar Rapids, and tears started to roll down my face and I knew that was my message. And I loved it, it was like it wasn’t a subtle message, it was like, it’s me already, it’s like this huge electrical storm.”

[From ABC.net.au]

I usually don’t believe in signs and messages. When people tell stories like this I find it fascinating though. I truly believe that they thought they received a sign, and that it was a sign in that way, since signs are what we make of them. (Hopefully that makes sense and doesn’t sound condescending, although it probably does.)

Hugh and Deborra sound like they’re on the exact same page when it comes to their family, and that’s very refreshing to hear, inside or outside of Hollywood.

Update: Here’s a link to a bunch of new gratuitous shirtless pictures of Hugh Jackman.

Most of these photos are from July and August of this year, except for the one where they’re in coats, that’s from October. Credit: Fame

I mentioned this yesterday, but it’s worth repeating. I LOVE VIOLA DAVIS. She’s so awesome. She used to be just a scene-stealing character actress, but over the past decade, she’s gotten more high-profile work, and she even scored a Tony Award and an Oscar nomination for Doubt (she was in the Broadway play, as well as the film). She’s in The Help, and her performance is being praised as the best part of a mediocre-to-okay film. These photos are from the premiere of The Help, and Viola brought her actor husband, Julius Tennon, as her date. They’ve been married for nine years.

Quick question: how old do you think Viola is? And while you’re thinking about that, guess how old Julius is. Viola is 46 years old (today is her birthday – happy birthday, Viola!). I can’t even find how old Julius is – but Viola told E! News that he has two “children” from a previous relationship though – a 35 and a 33-year-old. Oh, and he has SIX grandchildren. So that makes him…? At least 55, right?

Anyway, on the red carpet for The Help, Viola announced to E! News that she and Julius were in the process of adopting a baby! This will Viola’s first child, but as I said, she’s been a step-mom and step-grandmother to Julius’s kids and grandkids, and I think it’s really cool. Oh, and Viola is adopting “domestically”.

Congratulations to Viola and Julius. They seem like a solid, lovely couple and I’m sure they’ll be able to provide a wonderful home for a baby.

I still really want Viola to rethink this wig though.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Over the weekend, on of the British tabloids claimed that at the time of her death, Amy Winehouse was in the process of adopting a 10-year-old girl from St. Lucia. Amy’s extended stay in St. Lucia was through most of 2009. She and Blake Incarcerated had left each other, and Amy was allegedly on the island to work on a new album. Instead of working, though, she mostly just got drunk with locals and tourists and made lots of new friends. Apparently, Amy met the 10-year-old girl (named Dannika Augustine) and her family then, and Amy was working on becoming Dannika‘s legal guardian and bringing her to London.

Dannika claims, “Amy was already my mother. I would call her Mum. And she would call me her daughter. She took care of me, and we had fun together. I loved her, and she loved me.” Dannika‘s grandmother claims, “Amy loved Dannika with all her heart. I don’t know why Amy took to Dannika above all the other children on the island, but from the moment they met, they were inseparable. They would spend all day playing, horse-riding and walking up and down the beach hand in hand.” The mom also wanted to go along with it too!

But! A rep for Winehouse tells Gossip Cop, “There’s no truth to it.” Weird, right? Even though Gossip Cop is bashing anyone who believes the story, I think there’s more to it than a simple denial of everything. My guess is that Amy actually did want to adopt the girl but simply didn’t have any follow-through, so nothing legal ever happened.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

We heard just about a month ago that Denise Richards adopted an American baby girl she named Eloise, after her late mom. Richards is a single mom to two daughters from her turbulent marriage to Charlie Sheen: Sam, 7, and Lola, 6, and now she adds a third daughter to her family. Richards says that her ex Sheen is “very supportive” and has met Eloise. Here’s part of an interview Denise gave US Weekly to premiere little Eloise. She calls her an “cuddle bug,” and a “beautiful little baby and little soul.” It’s all very sweet. You can see her on the cover of the issue in the right hand corner (above).

How are you adjusting to having another newborn?
It’s been incredible. She’s brought so much joy, and I love her to pieces. Out of respect for the birth family, the details of the adoption are going to remain private, but I’ve been with her since the day she was born.

What’s her personality?
She is a cuddle bug. She loves being hugged and held. She’s such a beautiful little baby and little soul.

Describe Eloise’s first few days at home
The girls picked out an outfit they wanted her to wear when they met her, a pink onesie. I got home with Eloise in the middle of the night and woke up Sam and Lola early in the morning. They stayed home from camp that day. They were so excited to bond with their sister! Now they help me feed her. And they sleep through her waking up in the middle of the night. I don’t know how they do it!

How did you tell Sam and Lola about adoption?
I was honest and up-front with them. I told them it was something private for only our family to know about, and one day a baby will arrive.

How does Charlie feel about the adoption?
We talk every day. He’s met her. He knows how much I love, love kids, so he was very supportive.

Why did you adopt?
I always wanted more children, and I had to make a decision: Do I wait for the right partner, or do I keep moving forward? I decided to do this on my own.

How was the process?
Some people think if a celebrity wants a baby, they get one the next day. The adoption took two years, and there were times I felt discouraged, times when I got close to adopting a baby and it fell through. But I knew the right baby would find us.

Will you have a shower?
With Sam and Lola, I had showers before they were born. Now I’m having a shower and everyone will get a chance to meet her there, which is very sweet.

Do you want more kids?
I love my girls. But I think I’ll have another one when I meet the right partner.

[From US Weekly, print edition, August 1, 2011]

It all sounds very sweet and like Denise is a doting mom who just wanted another baby, but then I saw that she’s promoting a memoir which is out tomorrow, July 26th, called The Real Girl Next Door. The timing of the adoption is pretty convenient for publicity purposes, although she couldn’t have planned that since the process took two years. Now that Charlie’s support money is drying out she’s got to hustle a little and maybe she waited to release the book until the adoption went through. I don’t doubt she’s a devoted mom and she did a wonderful thing for that little girl.

Denise had a baby shower for Eloise over the weekend that was attended by Entertainment Tonight’s Nancy O’Dell and some other minor celebrities like Tori Spelling, Scary Spice Mel B, Ross the Intern, Lisa Rinna and Ali Landry. You can see photos here. Denise may talk to Charlie every day, but he was smart enough to stay away from the event, or Denise kept him away. He probably had some new porn stars to attend to.

Photos are from outside Denise’s baby shower on 7-23-11. Her dad Irv is shown holding the baby seat. Credit: Fame

Ewan McGregor just announced in an interview that he and his wife Eve Mavrakis have adopted a daughter, a four-month old whose name has not yet been made public. Ewan is now the father of FOUR girls! His oldest, at 15, is Clara Mathilde, then Esther Rose is 9, and then he and Eve adopted Jamiyan, who is also 9, from Mongolia in 2006. Apparently, Ewan confirmed the adoption weeks ago, but I guess no one bothered to read the interview…? He told the NY Post, “My wife and four girls – 15, two nine year olds and a baby of four months – often come with me if it’s a holiday or my locations and their schedules allow. Sometimes we uproot them and put them in another school.” Wow.

Ewan McGregor has let slip that he and wife Eve Mavrakis have adopted a baby girl. The 40-year-old actor revealed the news while promoting his movie Beginners in Los Angeles earlier this month. The little girl, who will be the fourth child for Ewan and Eve, was born in March and is just four months old.

However, Ewan has not revealed any other details about the baby, such as her name and nationality. The baby is the second adopted child for Ewan and his wife, who adopted daughter Jamiyan from Mongolia five years ago. The couple are also parents to daughters Clara, 15, and nine-year-old Esther.

Ewan made the revelation when he spoke to the New York Post about his new movie. Discussing how his family always comes first, Ewan said: ‘My wife and four girls – 15, two nine-year-olds and a baby of four months – often come with me if it’s a holiday or my locations and their schedules allow. Sometimes we uproot them and put them in another school.’

Ewan is notoriously private about his family life, but said in a recent interview that he will always try and spend as much time as possible with his children.

He said: ‘I recognize it can be boring to play with young children – to tell a story over and over again, let’s say – but the secret is being there. If you’ve made a decision to play with your children, then play with them. Don’t be looking through papers on your desk or sneaking off to the computer. Turn off your BlackBerry. Lose yourself in their world. Even if you do it for a short time, it will mean a lot to you and to them.’

[From The Mail]

People say that Ewan and Eve have an “open marriage” whenever there’s a rumor about Ewan with one of his leading ladies – we had photo evidence of Ewan and Melanie Laurent, and I remember rumors about Ewan and Michelle Williams back before Heath Ledger died too. But… I’ve never heard anything about Eve enjoying her side of an “open marriage” and they keep adopting those girls. I mean, I think Ewan and Eve are probably great parents, but I do wonder about the state of their marriage and their family. Still, congratulations to Eve and Ewan and their FOUR daughters. It’s a wonder Ewan doesn’t wander around, covered in glitter and nail polish.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels has started the process to adopt a baby from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In past interviews, Michaels has made it sound like she was choosing adoption in order not to have to go through the pregnancy and birth process. She said “I’m going to adopt. I can’t handle doing that to my body. Also, when you rescue something, it’s like rescuing a part of yourself.” She later clarified her remarks, admitting she did say that but taking outlets to task for adding that she claimed it would “ruin,” her body, which she never said. She also said that she has endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome, which would make a pregnancy risky. So it was a complicated issue for her, and one that she didn’t take lightly. Michaels told US Weekly that she’s started the adoption process, and that her new child could come any day now:

Even though she’s not whipping contestants into shape on national television, celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels is hard at work on a different kind of life-changing motive; having a child.

But don’t start looking for a bump, because the 37-year-old Biggest Loser alum is trying to adopt from the Congo.

After announcing that she would be ending her contract with the NBC reality weight-loss series in December, Michaels explained her desire to start a family. “I’m going to adopt,” she said in an interview last spring with Women’s Health magazine. “I can’t handle doing that to my body. Also, when you rescue something, it’s like rescuing a part of yourself.”

So how “far along” is the aspiring mom?

“My dossier, which is your paperwork portfolio, is in to the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Michaels told Us Weekly, Monday in NYC at the National Magazine Awards. “So the paperwork is done, and now it’s just a waiting game. It could be six months, twelve months; it could be two years. Or, it could be tomorrow! They call you and they say, ‘Oh, we have your referral,’ which is essentially the child they match you up with, and you go overseas and you get him or her.”

In the meantime, the tough-as-nails trainer will have plenty to keep her busy. She recently landed a multi-year deal to join the expert panel of TV’s syndicated series The Doctors, and “couldn’t be more excited.” She will appear alongside ER physician (and former contestant on The Bachelor!) Dr. Travis Stork; OB/GYN Dr. Lisa Masterson; cosmetic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Drew Ordon and pediatrician Dr. Jim Sears.

[From US Weekly]

Aw, good for her! I googled “adopting from the Congo” to see what the laws in that country are on International adoption, and they don’t require that adoptive parents live in the country, that they be married, or that they be below a certain age. (Other than 15 years older than the adoptive child.) So it looks like the restrictions are minimal as far I can tell. It’s not like she’s pulling a Madonna and asking them to bend the rules for her.

Michaels has said in the past that she’s dated both men and women. I got the impression that she has a same sex partner but am unable to verify that. Congratulations to Michaels!

Jillian Michaels is shown on 4/7/11. Credit: WENN.com

This week’s National Enquirer, which had the scoop that Katherine Heigl was adopting back before she announced it, claims that she’s about to adopt another baby, at her husband Josh’s insistence. Katherine and Josh adopted a baby from South Korea in September of 2009. Their daughter Naleigh is now two and Josh wants to give her a brother or sister, because he thinks a new addition to their family “could be the answer to their problems.” At least a bandaid baby is the husband’s idea for once, not that it makes a difference:

“They want Naleigh to have a little brother or sister soon,” a longtime family friend told the Enquirer.

Josh, 31 – who has a new country album, “Georgia Clay” – recently told an interviewer that Naleigh “needs a buddy.”

And the source divulged: “Josh has talked Katherine into adopting another child. He believes this could be the answer to their problems.”

In recent months, the couple’s storybook marriage has been battered by articles alleging Katherine’s insecurities over her faltering career and interference from their families.

As the Enquirer recently reported, Josh complained that Katherine’s mom Nancy was spending so much time around them, it was smothering their marriage and ruining their love live…

“Their marriage has definitely been very rocky,” said the friend. “He acknowledged that their relationship could use a boost – and he thinks another child will be the solution.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, April 25, 2011]

It’s a pretty dumb idea to add another child to an already troubled marriage, and it won’t do much to keep Katherine’s mom from meddling in her relationship. It will add a lot of love and wonder as kids always do but it can also make things more hectic and stressful. Katherine admitted on Letterman that she and Josh argue over really stupid sh*t about caring for Naleigh, like what diapers and wipes they should use. She also said that “I think I’m a little bit of a control freak.” Oh yeah, a new baby is just what they need. That will solve everything.

There are photos of Katherine out with her mom yet again yesterday (below), the mom who is said to be smothering her daughter and her husband. You know that lady is going to be around even more if she gets another grandkid.

Header photo is from 10/12/10. Photos of Katherine and her mom are from 4/14/11. Credit: Fame