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Kristin Davis admits she was petrified when she held daughter Gemma Rose in her arms for the first time.
“It is terrifying, partly because with adoption you always know there’s the chance that it won’t work. So you’re on pins and needles,” the Of Two Minds actress, 47, tells Anderson Cooper on an episode of his show airing Thursday.
“They tell you that when [your child] first comes, you should think of it as babysitting in case the birth mom changes her mind,” she explains.
“Every state is different, but in [California] it’s 48 hours. So you’re trying to think that you’re a babysitter but that’s kind of impossible!”The Sex and the City star welcomed her daughter last summer, but admits the process wasn’t easy.
“I had always thought in the back of my head that I would adopt — that it was a possibility,” Davis says. “So I started the process … but it’s quite confusing. There are all these different rules and if you’re single it’s harder.”
She enlisted the help of Dr. Jane Aronson — dubbed the “orphan doctor” — who encouraged her to pursue domestic adoption and guided her through the process. While Davis wound up with a “beautiful healthy daughter,” her worrying hasn’t stopped.
“When I first got her I would sleep with her on my chest, because when you adopt you’re very concerned about bonding,” the actress notes. “You’re not supposed to have comforters or anything around, obviously, because they could suffocate.”
“So every night I would have these nightmares that she’s under the comforter. I still — seven months later — have that. I’ll wake up and be like, ‘Where’s Gemma? Where’s Gemma?’ … and she’s in her crib, safe and sound.”
Of Two Minds airs Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. on Lifetime.