Apart from her ill-fated romance with Bradley Cooper, we rarely hear any gossip about Renee Zellweger. I’m not sure if that’s because she stays under the radar, because her career has cooled, or both. So that’s why when a story comes along about Renee, I tend to believe it. There aren’t many gossip outlets making up stories about her, you know?

Renee has been in a relationship with an old college friend, Doyle Bramhall II, for a little over a year. The two didn’t date in college but they are said to have kept running into each other and to have started seeing each other in the summer of 2012. Doyle is two years older than Renee and works as a guitarist for Eric Clapton and a music producer.

It sounds like things are getting serious for Renee and Doyle because they’re said to be considering adoption! There’s a lot of talk in this article about Renee getting up in years, which is realistic, but what about Doyle? I know she’s the famous one, but I wish they would frame this more as a decision they’re making together and less as a last-ditch effort by Renee to be a mom. That sounds a bit biased to me. Here’s more, thanks to Radar Online:

RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that Renee Zellweger is desperate to start family with her boyfriend, Eric Clapton guitarist Doyle Bramhall II.

“She’s considering adopting,” a source close to 44-year-old Zellweger reveals, adding that she has molded her career in recent months to allow herself more time to focus on her personal life.

“She’s been directing and working on her own projects, which has given her more time and flexibility to build her relationship with the right guy,” the source explains. “Hopefully, she’ll get the family she’s always dreamed of having.”

And it’s starting to seem like the perfect time. “Renee’s a true romantic, and she didn’t want to be a single mom,” the source says. “She always wanted to have a partner who is dying to share the adventure of parenthood with her. She really wanted the situation to be perfect — and it seems like it’s getting there.”

Zellweger and Bramhall first met when they were students at the University of Texas Austin in the ’90s. A “catching up” date in the summer of 2012 relit the spark, and the rest is history.

“Renee was ecstatic about finding love again with an old friend,” a source close to Zellweger explains. “She knew Doyle’s a good, solid guy, and she easily imagined starting a family with him.”

So, she threw herself into the relationship. “She followed him to his different gigs around the country this summer like a groupie,” the source says. “She joked that she felt like a teenager again!”

Still, 44-year-old Renee is realistic about her age and what it means for her future as a mom, the source says. “She knows that she probably missed the boat on carrying and giving birth to a child,” the source reveals. “She gets down about not having a family yet. She really thought that she’d be married and raising kids out in the Connecticut countryside by now.”

But she’s not giving up. “Renee tries to find the positive side of things,” the source explains. “She knows 44 isn’t too old to be a mom. It will just have to happen a little differently than she always imagined it would.”

[From Radar Online]

This story reminds me of how Sandra Bullock adopted little Louis three years ago. Of course Sandra was able to keep it quiet until she was ready to make the announcement. That was one of the biggest PR achievements I’ve ever seen, which isn’t to say that’s why Sandra adopted by any means, just that she was able to use it to massive advantage. If this is true, if Renee plans to adopt, I wonder where she’ll adopt from. Will she choose a domestic or international adoption and is she exploring both options? How will she introduce her baby or child to the world? I’m really excited for her and I hope this all works out well. I’ve always had the impression that she’s kind and genuine person, with a lot of love to give to a child.

These photos are of Renee and her boyfriend outside a dermatology clinic on 10-16 (credit: Pacific Coast News) and of Renee at the Met Gala in May. (credit: WENN.com)