Minka Kelly has been open about her dream of becoming a mom, and now she’s going all-out to make that a reality with her globally famous boyfriend, Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, a source exclusively tells Life & Style.

“It’s a matter of fact among Minka’s group of longtime friends in L.A. that she knows she waited a little too long to become a mom, but her relationship with Dan is on solid ground, and that’s who she wants to settle down with,” the insider says. “They have taken their time as a couple, and unlike a lot of Minka’s other relationships, there’s a real trust that has built up there, and a mutual desire to start a family, too.”

The source adds that Minka, 44, who is the only child of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay and Maureen Dumont Kelly, “comes from something of a rock ‘n’ roll family, and her father had a long, high-profile musical career.”

“Minka knows that lifestyle. She knows the challenges that go along with it, and as she and Dan take this next step together, she’s looking toward the future with her eyes wide open,” the insider continues. “Dan is a very positive, upbeat guy and he’s going to make a great dad, but Minka has spent a couple of decades waiting to get to this stage in her life, and she can’t wait to finally become a mom!”

Minka and Dan, 37, began dating in 2022. Prior to that, Dan was married to ex-wife Aja Volkman, with whom he shares kids Arrow, 12, twins Coco and Gia, 7, and son Valentine, 5. Meanwhile, years before she began dating the musician, Minka was in a “toxic relationship,” as she described it in her 2023 memoir Tell Me Everything, with her former Friday Night Lights costar Taylor Kitsch.

In her memoir, Minka also wrote about her desire to become a mother someday, citing her “colorful and chaotic, unstable and inconsistent, unpredictable and hard” childhood.

Minka Kelly Ready to ‘Settle Down’ With Dan Reynolds and ‘Become a Mom’

“I spent a lot of my youth wishing my mom was something she wasn’t, wishing she was like the other moms,” she wrote of the late Maureen, who worked as an exotic dancer in L.A. and often took her daughter to work with her. “I only was able to really appreciate how special she was when I got much older. In fact, when it was maybe a little too late.”

Though Minka said that marriage isn’t a must for her, she added, “I wouldn’t say no, but I don’t have a blueprint of it really working out.” However, the author “would still love to be a mom.”

“To have my own kids would be a wonderful gift if the time comes,” she wrote.

In the meantime, Dan’s children have bonded with Minka, according to the singer.

“The kids really love Minka and really love their mom, and that’s OK,” Dan told People in July 2024. “We view it as kind of bonuses to the family: more people to love, more people to help. We’ve just been really careful with that and slow with navigating how to bring Minka in to that conversation. She’s done a really incredible job of being sensitive and careful on her end as well.”