Sheryl Crow decided to adopt when she realised it was more important for her to become a mother than to become a wife.
Crowe says getting the all-clear from breast cancer in 2007 shortly after splitting from fiancé Lance Armstrong made her decide to adopt her sons - Wyatt, now six, and three-year-old Levi - because she realised having a family didn't have to occur in the conventional way.
She told the new issue of Britain's HELLO! magazine: "I began the adoption process right after I finished my radiation treatment. I always felt like I was meant to be a mom, but I'd been stuck on how I was supposed to do that. I thought the story was supposed to happen in a different way - you fall in love, you get married, you have children. But fortunately I opened my mind to other options.
"My story started the day I finished my radiation - what my life became since then. I moved to Nashville, closer to home and many great friends. I adopted my children. [Adoption] was not about me wanting a man. I wanted children. I finally realised there was no need for me to keep trying to bring a kid into the world when there are already for many great kids in the world looking for their people."
The 'If It Makes You Happy' singer - who turns 52 next week - feels blessed that her sons share a strong physical resemblance with her family and believes God has been smiling down on her.
Sheryl said: "Both [Wyatt] and Levi have a strong resemblance to my family. I think God has a wacky sense of humour. I waited all these years to be a mom and thought, I'll take whatever you give me - special needs, mixed race, whatever. And he gives me two incredible boys who look just like me."
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