Jean Smart Says Adoption 'Took a Lot Longer' Than Expected

Dr. Billy Ingram/WireImage

Life might be a “big joy fest” for Jean Smart and family now, but the source of their joy — newly adopted 18-month-old daughter Bonnie Kathleen — was a long time in coming.

Speaking to Celebrity Baby Blog at last Wednesday’s Hollywood premiere of Youth in Revolt, the actress revealed that she and husband Richard Gilliland have been discussing adoption for “over ten years.” She explains,

“When we finally started the process, it actually took a lot longer than we expected. We thought my son [Connor] was going to be about 15 when we got the baby and he’s just turned 20.”

Fortunately, baby girl has proven to be worth the wait. “[Bonnie] is the smartest, funniest, most darling gift,” Jean raves. “And she sleeps all night!”

“She just started walking … at Christmas. She’s quite tickled with herself. She’s been saying ‘daddy’ a lot. I don’t get ‘mama’ very much yet. But daddy is just like, ‘Daddy!’”

Named after Jean’s sister-in-law and mom, respectively, Bonnie has fans everywhere! “My son is smitten with her, my husband is absolutely besotted with her,” Jean, 58, notes. “[Even] she and the dog love each other.”

There were anxious moments while they were waiting to be matched with a child, however. “The day we got the big envelope with the picture was very exciting and very nerve-wracking,” she says. “Then you have 24 hours or something to say yes or no.”

Jean, Richard and Connor huddled together on the front porch, to open the envelope together as a family. “[We] said, ‘Okay, here it goes!’” she recalls. “And we went, ‘Oh my God! She’s so beautiful!’”

Six weeks later, they made the trip to China and eight weeks later Bonnie came home — although she didn’t stay home for long! Jean says that baby girl has been to Seattle to visit with Jean’s family, as well as to Texas at Thanksgiving.

“The poor little thing has traveled a lot since we got her, and she’s a trooper. She just loves traveling. She adapts to everything, big crowds. She’d be fine right here [at the premiere]. She’d be absolutely fine.”

– Missy with reporting by Jessica Wedemeyer

Comments

I had no idea she adopted a baby. Congrats to her and her family!

- Ashley Hiskes on January 12th, 2010

Bonnie? Oh my. That name should stay in the past where it belongs!

- Lis on January 12th, 2010

@Lis, really? Of all the truly odd names you take issue with Bonnie? Not to mention the name was chosen in honor of Jean’s mother.

- Olivia on January 12th, 2010

The entire family seems over the moon with their daughter/sister.

- Liliana on January 12th, 2010

aww, this makes me smile. and who cares about her name!! a baby has a loving family and family has a baby.

- Marla on January 12th, 2010

i think bonnie is super-cute! irish names are kind of in right now (aiden, erin, cullen, owen, even just ireland) so bonnie is both trendy and a throwback. and it’s meaningful to the family, which is (in my opinion) important…they sound so happy!

- noam on January 12th, 2010

I absolutely love her name! Refreshing and retro 60s! Little Bonnie will be unique against all the Avas, Lilys, Emmas, etc…

- ginger on January 12th, 2010

I love “older” names!!

- Lacey on January 12th, 2010

My name is Bonnie. I am in my early 30′s and was named after my Great Aunt. I love my name and always have. I haven’t run across too many Bonnie’s in my life, although one of them went to my small town school and was only a year or so younger than me. I was thrilled to see that a celebrity named her daughter Bonnie.

- Bonnie on January 13th, 2010

I don’t see anything wrong with the name Bonnie. One of my very first childhood friends was a girl almost exactly my age (in fact, we were born just six weeks apart!) who’s name was Bonnie. So Bonnie is a name that is still used to an extent (or at was 20 some years ago. I don’t know how much it’s used now.).

- CelebBabyLover on January 13th, 2010

I can’t believe it took that long to get matched! How sad for them and others waiting, especially the children. I’m glad they finally got their little girl.

- Maria Luisa on January 13th, 2010

Adoption is an awesome thing! Here’s my comment though – China has so many guidelines about age and adoption…the current guidelines state that you must be under 35 years old to adopt a child under 3 years old. How did a 58-year old get an 18-month old then? Not really fair to all of the young couples who are adopting their one and only child.

- Gina on January 13th, 2010

I wonder if they applied to adopt in more countries than just China?

- Hea on January 13th, 2010

It sounds like this little girl is very lucky and has found a loving family.

My guess as to why they were allowed to adopt, despite their ages, is that the baby had “special needs”… not saying the baby has anything mentally or physically wrong long term, but obviously she’s delayed if she only recently started walking…. which can be typical in some of the chinese orphanages.

I love the name Bonnie and I went to high school with a girl named Bonnie… it’s a sweet name.

- Kat on January 13th, 2010

Bonnie is Scottish not Irish, and why did it take so long to get matched did that get said?

- pixie on January 13th, 2010

I’m glad they are showing that adoption is not as easy as most people seem to think it is. They seem so happy with their little girl, but I’m sure they must have gone through a lot to get there.

- Nikki on January 13th, 2010

I wouldn’t say that a child that starts to walk at 18 months old is delayed in development. And especially not if she’s been living in an orphanage. It would be a whole other thing if she was 20-24 months old and just started to walk without being premature.

- Hea on January 14th, 2010

Considering the bizarre names of come celebrity children, Bonnie seems just fine to me. It is unusual for someone of Jean Smart’s age to get such a young child but it’s possible that the baby was classified as special needs. That’s generally what older parents and those who already have a child are offered in Chinese adoptions, but the special needs are often not real. When I adopted my second child from China at age 42, I was offered an infant who was “hearing impaired”. I decided to go through with the adoption and it turns out my daughter’s hearing is perfectly normal.

- Jeppie on January 16th, 2010

@ Gina: The age limit for China adoption when Ms. Smart started the adoption process would have been 55 (it still is for the adoption of kids with a special need.) It’s now 50 for non-special needs adoptions. My hubby and I adopted our son from China when I was 37, after 17 years of marriage and no biological children, and we brought home our daughter from the same country four years later. I thank God every day that I’m an older, more patient, parent!!

- Jen Sweeney on January 17th, 2010

Gina, my mistake, you’re referring to the age breakdown in China adoption, where the referrals of younger children are supposed to go to younger adoptive parents. Those are merely guidelines, though, and parents are advised to be prepared to accept the referral of a child who is younger or older than they might have imagined, especially if they are older themselves. In reality, (non-special needs) children who are approved to be adopted are matched with parents whose paperwork is “next in line.” Put simply, a group of parents whose ages range from 35-50 might be matched with a group of children from the same orphanage whose ages range from 10-13 months…or 18-24 months. No matter your age, you must be prepared for the unexpected. Respectfully, Jen

- Jen Sweeney on January 17th, 2010

Congrats to Jean and her newly expanded family! I remember that moment when I first saw the picture of my daughters from China – it’s an amazing moment.

Re names: I hope Jean and Richard have considered keeping part of their child’s Chinese name, so she can keep that part of her heritage. So far, my children have chosen to go by their “American” names, but their middle name is the one China gave them, and someday (college, perhaps) they may choose to go by that one as well.

- Brittany on January 17th, 2010

When I adopted in the early 2000s, I had the pleasure of joining an online group of parents who all sent in their paperwork during the same one-month period, and subsequently all were matched around the same time. Some older parents were surprised with younger babies, and some younger couples were matched with toddlers. After a little initial shock (and after receiving their babies), we’d all tell you that we got the exact right child for our family, whether that child was what we expected at the time or not. It’s an amazing process, congrats to the whole family!

- AdoptiveMom on January 18th, 2010