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Sandra Bullock says she ‘sometimes’ wishes her skin ‘matched’ her adopted children’s

Actor is mother to son Louis, 11, and daughter Laila, nine

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Tuesday 30 November 2021 18:20 GMT
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Sandra Bullock says she sometimes wishes her skin matched her childrens'

Sandra Bullock has spoken candidly about motherhood, and why she “sometimes” wishes that she and her adopted children had the same skin colour.

The Ocean’s Eight actor, 57, who adopted her son Louis, 11, in 2010 when he was three months old, and, later, her daughter Laila, nine, in 2015, reflected on the topic during an appearance on Red Table Talk with Willow Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris.

In the preview clip shared ahead of Wednesday’s episode, Bullock told the hosts: “To say that I wish our skins matched, sometimes I do. Because then it would be easier on how people approach us.”

The mother-of-two then went on to claim that she has the “same feelings” as “a woman with brown skin and her babies” or a “white woman with white babies”.

The admission prompted a response from Willow, 21, who replied: “It’s the mother-child dynamic. There is no colour.”

Bullock then revealed that her hope is that “maybe one day that will go away,” adding: “Maybe one day we will be able to see with different eyes.”

The Unforgivable actor previously opened up about her adoption journey in 2015, telling People that her children, both of who were adopted from Louisiana, came to her “at the exact right time”.

“My family is blended and diverse, nutty, and loving and understanding,” she said. “That’s a family”.

As for why she came to pursue motherhood, Bullock previously told Today that she had thought the chance to become a mother had passed “and then [Hurricane] Katrina happened”.

“Katrina happened in New Orleans, and I knew. Like, just something told me that my child was there. It was weird. It was very, very weird,” she recalled, adding that, a few years later, she was connected with Louis.

The Oscar winner, who is an outspoken advocate of adoption, also previously revealed that she would prefer for people not to use the term “adopted child”.

Speaking to InStyle in 2018, Bullock first discussed the thousands of foster children in need of homes, which she said makes her teary-eyed, before adding: “Let’s all just refer to these kids as ‘our kids.’ Don’t say ‘my adopted child.’ … Let’s just say: ‘Our children.’”

Red Table Talk will air Wednesday at 12pm ET on Facebook Watch.

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