Maria Bello has become the latest of several celebrities to have come out this year and, in an article this week, revealed the struggles with her sexuality and how she explained to her son that she was in a relationship with her best friend Clare.

The Prisoners actress admitted her difficulties with telling her 12-year-old son Jackson that she was in a relationship with a woman in an article entitled 'Coming Out as a Modern Family' published in the New York Times.

"I was with someone romantically and I hadn't told him," she said. "I had become involved with a woman who was my best friend, and, as it happens, a person who is like a godmother to my son."

She explains how the romance with her best friend Clare blossomed in a confusing way for her; with them both knowing that their relationship was stronger than most friendships. "We had an immediate connection but didn't think of it as romantic or sexual," she explained. "She was one of the most beautiful, charming, brilliant and funny people I had ever met, but it didn't occur to me, until that soul-searching moment in my garden, that we could perhaps choose to love each other romantically."

Fortunately for her, her family were nothing short of supportive when she came out to them. Jackson 'broke into a huge, warm smile' when Maria explained the situation and told her, 'Mom, love is love, whatever you are', while her father told her, 'She's a good girl, good for you'.

Maria is only the latest in a string of stars to have come out in recent months, with Olympic diver Tom Daley also revealing he is now in a relationship with a man. 'Prison Break' actor Wentworth Miller announced that he was homosexual in August 2013, as did Ben Whishaw around the same time.

Maria Bello at No More PSA launch
Maria was surprised by her son Jackson's mature response to the news

Tom Daley at HMV Oxford Circus
Olympian Tom Daley has also recently admitted to being in a homosexual relationship