1. Sushmita Sen

This Miss Universe adopted two kids, Renee Sen in 2000, and Alisah Sen in 2010, all without the mere mention of marriage. They are a happy little family. 

2. Raveena Tandon

In 1995, at the age of 21, Raveena adopted two daughters at the peak of her career. She began a family with Pooja and Chhaya, as a single mother when they were 11 and 8-years-old. A few years later, she married Anil Thadani and had two more children with him. 

3. Shakira and Gerard Piqué

The singer and football player got together a decade ago, and have two sons together – Milan and Sasha. The couple do want to have more kids together in the future, but marriage doesn’t seem to be their priority. 

4. Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling

The two began dating in 2011 and have two daughters together, 7-year-old Esmeralda and 5-year-old Amada. Marriage is the “furthest thing from her mind,” Eva said in an interview but it didn’t stop them from starting a beautiful family together. 

5. Neena Gupta 

In the 1980s, after a brief relationship with Vivian Richards, Neena gave birth to her daughter, Masaba Gupta, who she chose to raise in India as a single mother. In 2008, Neena married a CA, Vivek Mehra and their family expanded to three. 

6. Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai

The dancer and actor adopted a baby girl, Ananthanarayani in 2001 and has been raising her as a single mother. She often shares videos, teaching her how to dance and its endearing to watch. 

7. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

In 2002, soon after her divorce from actor Billy Bob Thornton, Angelina adopted her first child, Maddox Chivan from an orphanage in Cambodia. Then in 2005, she adopted Zahara Marley, while she was dating Brad Pitt. Later, Brad adopted both Maddox and Zahara, officially. 

8. Sandra Bullock

Soon after her separation from Jesse James, whom she had initially filed for adoption with, Sandra adopted her son, Louis Bardo Bullock in 2010, as a single parent. In 2015, Sandra adopted a three-year-old girl, Laila Bullock, when she began dating her long-term boyfriend, Bryan Randall. Bryan has taken over the dad duties in her small family but the couple is yet to tie the knot. 

9. Madonna

The 61-year-old pop-star has six children in total. Her first daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon was born in 1996, when she was dating personal trainer and actor, Carlos Leon. She also had a son, Rocco Ritchie with her ex-husband, Guy Ritchie. During and after her divorce from Guy in 2008, she adopted David Banda in 2006, Mercy James in 2009, and twins Esther and Stella Mwale in 2017.

10. Ricky Martin

In 2008, this legendary singer became the father of twin boys, Matteo and Valentino, born to a surrogate mother. In 2018, he married his partner, Jwan Yosef and they have a daughter, Lucía Martin-Yosef, born in 2018 and a son, Renn Martin-Yosef, born in 2019, together – expanding his family. 

11. Cristiano Ronaldo

This footballer became a father at 25 when his first child, Cristiano Jr, was born in 2010. However, he refused to reveal the name of his son’s birth mother, and raised him alone. In 2017, he had a set of twins, Mateo and Eva, with the help of a surrogate mother. Later in 2017, Ronaldo and his girlfriend, Georgina became parents to a daughter, Alana Martina. 

12. Vin Diesel and Paloma Jiménez

The couple has been together since 2007 and have three kids together – Similce, born in 2008, followed by Vincent in 2010 and Pauline, born in 2015. The two are yet to tie the knot, but they are raising their beautiful children together. 

13. Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson

The actor and the filmmaker began dating in 2001 and have four kids together – Pearl, Minnie, Jack, and Lucille. Maya does call Paul her ‘husband’ but the two are not married. 

14. Kalki Koechlin and Guy Hershberg

Kalki and her boyfriend, Guy Hershberg, an Israeli musician, have a daughter together, Sappho, born in 2020. 

Who said you need to get married to start a happy family?