Single parents: Celebrities we love!

Katie Holmes, 33, seems noticeably more happy since she and Tom Cruise, 50, divorced. Now that she has sole custody of their daughter Suri, 6.5, Scientology seems to have gotten the boot; Suri's going to a fancy private school in the fall.

What's more? Katie's now in the process of co-writing and starring in a film about single motherhood.

Ahh, the public has made a game out of determining who the father of January Jones' 11-month-old baby Xander is. But the 34-year-old Mad Men star threw us off the scent when she shocked the mainstream with her joy of placenta eating.

Padma Lakshmi, 41, is a single mom to Krishna Thea, 2, and she certainly doesn't think her daughter is lacking anything (or anyone) in her life. Here's what she told Yahoo! Shine about parenting (not so) solo: 

I am a single parent. But I don't feel alone at all in parenting my daughter. I have a big family, who I am surrounded by, and friends. Krishna has a whole other side of her family who loves her, too. And so Krishna is parented by me, but also by her grandmother and aunts and cousins and uncles and friends. It's a corny thing, but it does take a village. The more who encompass her, the more different kinds of people who are in Krishna's life, the better off she is.

Love that...!

Sandra Bullock, 48, adopted little Louis, 2, on the heels of her bitter divorce from ex-husband Jesse James. When asked about balancing her career with single motherhood, Sandra said, "I wasn't thinking about any of that. I was just so happy being a mom. I'm still very happy being a mom. That just shifted and became my full priority."

Ohh, we love Diane Keaton! She has two children, Keaton, 16, and Duke, 10, whom she adopted on her own (when she was over 50!).

Sadly, the 66-year-old actress doesn't think a single-parent family is the best scenario. "As a parent I provide all I can," she said in an interview, "but I think in the best possible scenario you need to have a man." Nonetheless, she admits, "relationships are hard. You're lucky if you find someone."

Reese Witherspoon, 36, was single mom to Deacon, 8.5, and Ava, 12.5, for a long time before she married her second husband, Jim Toth, last spring. Now Reese is expecting a child with her new hubby, and things look blissfully amicable among her and the kids' dad, handsome Ryan Phillippe, 37. They're often seen chatting together at soccer games and other events.

Before recently remarrying, Kate Hudson, 33, was single mom to her son Ryder Robinson, 8, with ex-hubby Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes). But she never thought of herself as a single mom. “Being a single parent can be difficult, but I don’t feel I am one,” she told InStyle UK a while back. “Chris and I are co-parenting.”

Kate and her new hubby, Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy, also have a one-year-old baby "Bing" together.

Gary Oldman, 54, says he's grateful for being single dad to his sons, Gulliver, 14, and Charlie, 13, of whom he has full custody. Here's what he says about parenting solo in Vogue UK's August issue:

I asked myself a very simple question. Am I a dad who's going to be away working all the time? Or am I going to be a dad who's around at home? And I decided to be at home. It set a new course for the ship.... I had really felt that I had not done it successfully with my first son, although our relationship was always good.... But I felt that I had been given the gift of a second chance. I'd been awarded these children, by the court — which is unheard of in California — and I felt that I now had these boys for a reason.

Well, I'm officially a fan now..., you?!

Gary also has a son, Alfie (who's in his 20s now), with first wife, Lesley Manville.

Liv Tyler, 35, has been a single mom to Milo Langdon, 7.5, since 2008, when she and Milo's dad, British musician Royston Langdon, got divorced. "It was always a dream of mine to be a mother," Liv says in the March 2012 issue of Marie Claire UK. "I’m always trying to figure out what’s the best for him [Milo] as a person. The kind of person I want him to be. The values I want him to have. Much as I love my friends in LA, I wanted him to have more of an East Coast upbringing. The sense of community. Walking to school four blocks away.”

Courteney Cox, 48, is mom to 8-year-old Coco, with ex-hubby David Arquette. Courteney and David have a famously amicable relationship. "He's my best friend." Courteney has said. "No matter what happens in our future, he's my very best friend."

R&B singer Usher, 33, is in the middle of a prolonged and passionate custody battle with ex wife, Tameka Foster, over his sons Usher Raymond V, 4, and Naviyd Ely Raymond, 3.

"We had to put our issues aside and focus on raising them," Usher told People Magazine. "There will never be another mother for my sons, and I'll always be their father."

Tragically, Tameka's 11-year-old son, Kile Glover, whom Usher was reportedly very close with (he was his stepfather), recently passed away after a jet skiing accident. I followed the story from its inception and, needless to say, am devastated for the family. Our thoughts are with them.

Kate Winslett, 36, has two kids with ex-husband Sam Mendes — Joe, 9, and Mia, 11.5. She recently opened up to Britain's OK! Magazine about being a single mom: 

It's not the easiest situation being a single mother, but Sam has been very good in helping me with the kids.... They've been spending time with both of us and even though it was hard at first, we're all doing great. I've never felt better. I'm very happy with the work I've been doing and I'm enjoying my time with my children, who mean the world to me."

Uma Thurman, 42, just had a new baby girl with boyfriend Arpad Busson!

Of course, she's also mom to Maya, 13, and Levon, 10 — her kids with ex-hubby Ethan Hawke. And, according to Uma, being a single mom hasn't been easy. "Trying to raise kids on your own is not easy," the actress has said. "It’s why I haven’t worked as much as I should or could have. It’s why I haven’t made a film in a year. But let’s face it, whoever you are, a girl’s got to make a living.”

Sex and the City's Kristin Davis, 47, who adopted little Gemma Rose last October, had this to say when asked about single parenthood:

It had taken me a while to feel that I could take on parenthood by myself. It is a huge change in my life, but one I am so ready for.... Some people feel desperation about finding a man... Personally, I don't.