With over 63 motion pictures, 182 nominations, 90 award wins, and not to mention countless fashion statements, it’s hard not to be impressed with Nicole Kidman’s accomplishments. But let’s talk about a number the actress might be prouder of, her four children.
“The strongest force within me, right now, is the maternal force,” she said in an interview with Equity Media. “I have a really, really, strong marriage. But maternal love brings you to your knees. It’s surfacing in pretty much everything I do.”
Kidman has two adopted children from her marriage with Scientology devotee, Tom Cruise: Isabella Jane and her only son, Connor Cruise. She also shares two daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret with her husband and world-renowned country singer, Keith Urban.
Nicole Kidman’s adopted kids with Tom Cruise
During the early part of her marriage to Tom Cruise, Kidman suffered an ectopic pregnancy and a miscarriage. Deeply traumatised by this, Kidman and Cruise decided to adopt.
Nicole’s aunt was adopted so she was always open to adoption. She told the Tatler.
“It’s been part of our family, and I knew it would play out somewhere in mine. I didn’t think it would happen so early, but it did.”
Tatler
Isabella (or Bella) was adopted by Kidman and Cruise in 1992 and her younger brother Connor was adopted in 1995.
When the couple split in 2001, the children decided to live with their father and stay devoted to Scientology; a decision respected by Nicole.
Since the divorce, rumours have circulated that Scientology members have worked to estrange her from both children.
Nicole received a lot of heat for failing to mention her two oldest kids in award speeches. However, regardless of this, Kidman and the two children have always stated that there is nothing but love between them.
Talking about her movie, Lion, Nicole Kidman had this to say in relation to her own adoption experience;
“It doesn’t have to be biological. That’s what I love about this movie, and what I keep trying to say: once the bond is there between a mother and a child, the biological part of it is sort of the least important part. I think when that bond forms, it’s astounding how powerful it is.”
Isabella, the eldest child of Cruise and Kidman is now based in London. In 2015 she tied the knot with husband Max Parker – however, neither Kidman nor Cruise were in attendance.
While the media speculated that the family were estranged, Bella shut down the claims telling Daily Mail in 2016, “Of course [we talk], they’re my parents. Anyone who says otherwise is full of s**t.”
The same year, son Connor also put to rest rumours of estrangement, telling Woman’s Day: “I love my mum. I don’t care what people say, I know that me and mom are solid. I love her a lot.”
Nowadays, the pair remain largely out of the public eye.
Nicole Kidman’s biological and surrogate daughters with Keith Urban
After marrying Keith Urban in 2006, Kidman gave birth to a daughter in 2008.
This was a miracle for both Kidman and Urban. The culprit? The Kununarra Falls in Western Australia.
Nicole was filming her movie Australia when the cast decided to go for a dip in the waterfalls.
According to Kidman, she wasn’t the only one who got lucky, seven babies were conceived while making the film and now they call it the ‘fertility waters’.
The beautiful baby girl was named Sunday Rose at Kidman’s father’s suggestion to name her after the Australian patron of the arts, Sunday Reed.
Ironically, prior to getting married, both Kidman and Urban hated Sundays. Kidman said; “When we were both alone, before we met each other, Sunday was the day we dreaded most, because when you don’t have someone in your life Sundays can be really lonely.”
But when they got married, they went from hating Sundays to absolutely loving them.
Kidman told Oprah a little after giving birth: “That’s our favourite day because if you’re happy and you’ve got your family around you, then Sunday’s a beautiful day.”
Kidman and Urban have another daughter, Faith Margaret, whom they welcomed through a surrogate.
A close friend of Kidman and Urban said that Faith was an obvious name choice for the couple as they “never gave up faith that they would have another child together”.
The couple decided to keep the pregnancy a secret to protect their surrogate.
Kidman explained during an interview with 60 Minutes, “She was the most wonderful woman to do this for us. And we were in a place of desperately wanting another child and this opportunity arose for us. And I couldn’t get pregnant and we wanted another baby. I get emotional just talking about it cause I’m so grateful to her.”
In December 2023 fans got a rare look at the teens as they stepped out at Sydney airport alongside their father – and many pointed out the family resemblance, commenting on how much the girls looked like their dad.
While Kidman and Urban remain vigilant in keeping their daughter’s privacy, it’s clear their children are following in their footsteps.
Faith, 13, is a musician just like her father, whilst Sunday, 16, made her modelling debut when she walked the Miu Miu runway at Paris Fashion Week on Oct. 1 2024.
Kidman and Sunday Rose had also matched in monochrome in the front row of the Balenciaga show couture show in Paris earlier in the year.
The pair wore coordinated all-black ensembles and sat alongside Naomi Watts and her child Kai Schreiber.
From struggling to conceive to becoming a mother of four, Kidman has gone through a unique motherhood journey.
“I think because I’ve experienced motherhood in so many different ways,” she explained. “I’ve experienced adoption, birthing a child, and I’ve experienced surrogacy. I’m like, when it comes to it, I just wanna be a mama.”
“I would love to have had more”, the actress said, when asked how many children she would want. “But I’m happy to have the family I have”.
