10 Single Parents Who Didn’t Need a Partner to Raise Their Kids

Being a parent is on its own a very hard task, filled with difficulties and unexpected turns and tribulations. Imagine if you had to go through it without a partner, all by yourself. This is the case for many people out there, including celebrities and celebrities’ parents who either divorced their partners or lost them.

1. Pierce Brosnan

After marrying actress Cassandra Harris, Pierce Brosnan adopted her 2 kids: Charlotte age 9 and Chris age 8. 3 years later, they gave birth to their own son Sean. Later the Brosnan family experienced a tragedy — Cassandra died from cancer. Since then the actor has been raising their kids alone without any intention to get married again. But in 1994, he met a journalist Keely Shaye Smith whom he married officially in 2001. They have 2 sons — Dylan and Paris.

2. Judith Ann Hawkins — Halle Berry’s mother

The mother of actress Halle Berry, Judith Ann Hawkins, worked as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital. Her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, worked in the same hospital. Halle Berry’s parents got divorced when she was only 4 years old and she, along with her older sister Haidi, were raised solely by their mother.

Halle Berry became the first black actress in the history of cinema to get an Oscar for Best Actress and also won prestigious awards like an Emmy and The Golden Globe.

3. Irmelin Indenbirken — Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother

Leonardo DiCaprio is the only child of comic book author George DiCaprio and court clerk Irmelin Indenbirken. When the boy was only one year old, George and Irmelin broke up. Leonardo stayed with his mother. After the divorce, his mother had to work several jobs just to provide for her and her son.

Today, Leonardo is known around the world not only as a Hollywood star, but also as an active fighter for the protection of the environment. So, since 1998, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has donated more than $30 million on the development of 70 innovative eco-projects in 40 countries.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has many kids. His first son was born by a surrogate mother in 2010. His name is also Cristiano. In 2017, the athlete became a father to 2 twins: daughter Eva and son Mateo. Now he is getting ready for his wedding to Georgina Rodríguez and recently they gave birth to their daughter Alana Martina.

5. Patricia Hickey — Mariah Carey’s mother

The mother of American pop-singer Mariah Carey, Patricia Hickey, was an opera singer. Her father, Alfred Roy Carey was an air navigation engineer. Mariah’s parents got divorced when she was 3 years old. Patricia worked 2 jobs in order to provide for the family. For little Mariah, her mother was a role model for everything and she inspired her to become a singer.

Today, Mariah is famous around the world not only as the winner of 5 Grammy awards, but also as an actress and philanthropist. She is the co-founder of a children’s camp in the suburbs of New York that helps children from poor areas study art. The singer also often collects and donates money to charity foundations that help seriously ill children.

6. Pattie Mallette — Justin Bieber’s mother

Elizabeth Patricia Mallette is a Canadian writer, producer, and the mother of popular singer Justin Bieber. When she was 15 years old, she started a relationship with Jeremy Bieber and 3 years later, she gave birth to the famous star of the pop-world. Soon after the child was born, the couple broke up and Mallette had to raise her son alone.

When he was a child, Justin Bieber learned to play the piano, the drums, the guitar, and the trumpet. And at the beginning of 2007, when he was only 12 years old, Patty Mallette, uploaded a video with her son’s song. This video made the boy famous.

Throughout his entire career, Bieber has sold around 100 million records and he has become one of the best-selling musicians in Canada’s history.

7. Liam Neeson

10 years ago, Liam Neeson’s wife Natasha Richardson fell down and hit her head while skiing at a ski resort and died after several days. Neeson stayed alone with their 2 sons Daniel and Micheal, ages 12 and 13. It took a lot of time for the family to overcome this tragedy but they managed to cope with the loss. Liam Neeson dedicated his life to his kids and never married again.

8. Amanda Cornett — Selena Gomez’s mother

The life of Selena Gomez’s mother is a bit like the story of Justin Bieber’s parents. Amanda Cornett had her daughter at the age of 16 with a Mexican man, Ricardo Joel Gomez. When Selena was 5 years old, her parents got divorced. The mother of the future star was a theater actress. She raised her daughter alone and inspired her to be a singer.

Selena Gomez became popular after she did several TV series for Disney. And at the age of 17, she became world famous as a pop singer. In November 2012, she was named one of the women of the year by the Glamour magazine. Today, Selena is also known as a clothing designer.

9. Judy Loe — Kate Beckinsale’s mother

The star of British cinema, Kate Beckinsale, was born in the family of TV actor Richard Beckinsale and theater actress Judy Loe. When Kate was only 5 years old, her father died of a heart attack. Her mother had to raise her daughter by herself, and thanks to her, Kate loves the theater and cinema.

In her childhood, Kate wanted to become a writer and even won several literary competitions with her work. When she was young, she started studying the Russian language. Later, she entered the Russian philological department at Oxford University but she dropped out and decided to become an actress.

10. Norman Reedus

The star of The Walking Dead TV series, Norman Reedus, has been raising his son Mingus alone for many years. He had been dating supermodel Helena Christensen for about 5 years, but their relationship fell apart. The couple shares joint custody of their son, however, he has lived most of his life with his father in Los Angeles. Today Mingus is 20 years old. Several years ago, Norman Reedus started dating actress Diane Kruger and in 2018, they had a daughter.