Katie Holmes can’t keep the smile off her face and who could blame her? She has officially decided she is ready to adopt and give her daughter Suri a sister.
With her lawyer father Martin – the man credited with masterminding her swift divorce from Tom Cruise – in charge, Katie is quickly building a team of family law specialists to get things underway.
Woman’s Day is told the adoption is only weeks away and the caseworkers handling Katie’s paperwork have leaked one important details, Katie wants a little girl under eight months old, because Suri has specifically been asking for a sister.
Apart from doing most of the ground work herself, with Katie spending a lot of time researching everything she can about adoption, she has also called on her celebrity friends for advice.
A source reveals that the actress has sought emotional advice from Sandra Bullock and Charlize Theron, other star mums who have adopted while single.
“Katie is nervous about having a baby without having a partner,” explains the insider.
“But she’s drawn a lot of strength from Sandra and Charlize telling her she can absolutely do this and she shouldn’t feel overwhelmed just because she doesn’t have a man in her life.
“She has endless financial resources and she also has her mum and dad who she knows she can count on every step of the way.”
While Katie has had a handful of date since her divorce from Tom Cruise two years ago, none have gone further than a romantic dinner. The 35-year-old has now decided to put all of her energy into being a mum to her eight-year-old daughter and the new addition to their family.
“Katie hasn’t felt comfortable dating and she often talks about how difficult it is for her to find someone who would be willing to take on all the complications and publicity she brings with her right now. She’s decided to put men on the backburner for a while and concentrate on Suri and on finalising the adoption.”
Woman’s Day understand that Suri has been asking for a little sister for the past two years. After Tom and Katie’s divorce, Suri was introduced to life as a normal child attending school in New York and taking both ballet and gymnastics classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights, as well as weekends.
“She has regular play dates with two other girls who have definitely become her best friends – but both of those girls have younger sisters. And although Suri has everything money can buy in terms of toys and clothes, what she really wants is a little sister of her own,” explains our source.
But it seems the best news about Katie’s impending adoption is the fact that the decision is finally making the actress smile again.
Friends of the actress tell Woman’s Day exclusively that this is the most upbeat they have seen her in months.
“Katie has always been ambitious and she was very driven to find success in her acting career,” says a friend of Katie’s, who’s known her for 18 years.
“But what most people don’t know is that Katie is the youngest of five children.
“She was the baby in a big family and she has always desperately wanted to recapture that feeling of being a part of a big, happy family. She wants that for Suri and she wants that for herself.”
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