Sandra Bullock couldn't "melt down" when her marriage ended

She said: "I had a newborn child looking up at me, and I had read something that said, 'Whatever secret you're hiding, your child will live it out'.

"I was determined not to let him live out my grief. I could see he felt it. But the problem was I couldn't melt down. When you first adopt a child, they're 'placed'. The child can still be taken away.

"So I spent six months proving that I could be a worthy single parent. I still had to run, I still had to hide a child [from the press]. That was the hardest part. If I'd lost Louis because of the life choices I'd made, I would never forgive myself."

The 53-year-old actress - who also has daughter Laila, six - is an advocate for single mother adoption and has tried to help other women in a similar position to her.

She said: "It's possible. I've helped other people do it. What people need to know is that to adopt a child it does not take a Cinderella life."

Sandra has been in a relationship with photographer Bryan Randall, 52, for three years, and he had to get the seal of approval from her kids first.

She told the Sunday Times magazine: "Children eliminate the wrong people. They c**k block.

"I like men who make me feel safe, and don't make me feel that I need to crawl into a hole for being as outspoken as I am."