Celebrity Children Who Have Helped Heal Famous Families

Mariska Hargitay's Son, August Helped Her Overcome Her Grief From Her Mother's Death

The Birth Of Julia Roberts' Twins Phinnaeus & Hazel Reunited Her With Her Estranged Brother Eric Roberts

Angelina Jolie's Father Jon Voight Relishes His Role As Grandpa

Tori Spelling & Mom Candy Spelling Make Amends For The Sake of Kids Liam & Stella

Sandra Bullock's "Little Cajun Cookie" Starts A Bright New Chapter In Her Life

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Anyone who has ever had a family knows what it's like to experience grief, discord, or estrangement... and if your family has remained free of such sorrows, consider yourself lucky!

Even, and sometimes especially the rich and famous find themselves caught up in family feuds that are documented in the headlines for all to witness. But several celebrities have found healing and a way back to love and goodwill through the birth and upbringing of their children.

From Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie to Sandra Bullock and Mariska Hargitay, click through to read about famous families who have found new beginnings in their own families via their kids.

• Mariska Hargitay

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay recently revealed to Good Housekeeping that motherhood helped her heal the loss of her own mother.

She shared,

It's not a source of pain or angst anymore," she says. "I understand her in a new way that gives me peace. Being a mom has been healing. Now I understand the love she had in her, and it makes me feel closer to her.

Her 4 year-old son, August, with actor Peter Hermann, has been a tremendous source of love and strength for the actress. Hargitay lost her father to cancer not long after August was born. But she chose to see the brief relationship between grandfather and grandson in a positive light saying,

I am grateful he had a chance to look into his grandson's eyes and pass along his love and strength.

• Julia Roberts

Eat, Pray, Love star Julia Roberts is the envy of millions for her megawatt smile, successful career and blissful home life. But that's not to say that her journey in life has been without its ups and downs.

America's Sweetheart and her brother, Eric Roberts, had been embroiled in a long-running feud since the 90's due to a falling out. They were not on speaking terms with one another for many years. But the birth of Julia's now 5 year-old twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus, evidently turned the tide on her relationship with her brother, and the two are now in each others good graces again. Eric says,

We’re brother and sister and we both have really strong opinions about things. So it’s a lot of ‘f--k you,’ ‘no, f--k you’ and hanging up the phone... but it got so blown out of proportion. We stopped talking and then with the birth of the twins we started talking again. Now we talk almost every day. I like her.

Julia also has son Henry, 3 with husband Danny Moder.

• Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie has indeed had a very public, very peppered past. The wild child has tamed her ways to become a mother of six, a one-man woman as the partner of Brad Pitt, and a globetrotting do-gooder.

Jolie had a complicated but loving relationship with her now deceased mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who passed away after a battle with ovarian cancer in January, 2007. The star has made it well-known that her father, Jon Voight cheated on her mother, and their estrangement has been in and out of the headlines over the past several years. Angelina cut off all ties to her father when he publicly proclaimed that she had "serious mental problems" in 2001.

But Angelina's burgeoning family has given Voight a chance to redeem himself. He may not have been the father Jolie wanted, but he treasures his role as grandfather to her children. He shares,

Every stage of your life has delight, thank god, and also dramas. But, oh my gosh, being a grandfather is the most wonderful thing!

This past May, we spotted Voight in Italy with the Jolie-Pitt clan. After touring Venice's Grand Canal the happy grandpa stated, that he had, "a very beautiful trip...It's nice to have something that's positive."

The Midnight Cowboy star also recently gushed to OK! Magazine about his grandchildren saying,

All the kids are smart, I tell you. They’re beautiful children." With regard to tabloid gossip about the Jolie-Pitt kids he says, Sometimes you don’t like it because sometimes it’s distorted stuff. But I like seeing them no matter where they are. I don’t read the stuff; I just look at their picture and swoon. I love them.

• Tori Spelling

There have been way more woeful valleys than peaks in the no-love-lost mother/daughter relationship between Candy and Tori Spelling. Here the two are spotted hugging this past May after spending Mother's Day together. After three years of publicly lashing out at one another, Candy revealed,

I'm very happy to say that Tori and I have taken it to where I think we both want it. We are communicating.

A year earlier than Candy released the above statement, her daughter diplomatically admitted that she and her mother simply "never meshed." With regard to her mother having a relationship with her children Liam and Stella, with husband Dean McDermott, she elaborated,

I, in no way, cut her off. She is welcome to make the effort if she wants to be present in their lives. She knows how to reach me, she knows where we live. If she would love to see her grandchildren, she should really make an effort to reach out and see them.

But it's no doubt that Tori's children are the tie that binds her to her mother presently.
They have given the two common ground: the love they both have for Liam and Stella has been their major reason to no longer be at odds.

• Sandra Bullock

The lovable Sandy Bullock found herself in quite a heartbreaking fiasco when news of husband Jesse James' sordid betrayal and scandalous affairs broke just after her Oscar win. Always the class act, Bullock rose above the fray and it was soon revealed that she had miraculously kept under wraps the fact that she had secretly adopted a baby, Louis Bardo. She calls her son, 7 months, her "little Cajun cookie," and he has given her joy, healing and purpose during the trying aftermath of her relationship with James.

Further, although the star has certainly moved on from bad boy James, she remains civil enough with him to still maintain relationships with his children from previous relationships: Sunny, 6, Chandler, 15, and Jesse Jr., 12. Bullock had grown to love and deeply care for James' children during their 5 year marriage.

James even moved to Texas with his six year-old daughter, Sunny, so Bullock, who also lives in the Lone Star state can be an integral part of her life. And although the move deeply upset Sunny's biological mother Janine Lindemulder, Lindemulder had nothing but kind words for Bullock saying,

[Sunny] will be fine. It hurts. Sandy is good. Jesse is good. Sunny loves baby Louis. She's excited to move to Texas. [Bullock] will be good for her.

The children shared between Bullock and James will not bring them back together as a couple, but their presence in Bullock's life brings her immense love. And she can add to her resume that due to little Louis, she can now survive on only 3 hours of sleep per night!