Childfree and Happy Celebs
Generally, we have no doubt about what we are going to do with our lives – the way is socially paved for us, from attending schools and probably universities to landing jobs and ensconcing within a family we started. The next move is to beget progeny. At least, that’s what it came round to a while ago. Children were regarded as an indispensable part of a family, yet there have always existed those who chose to forgo the traditional lifestyle.
There are such people among Hollywood A-listers, too. Here are some inveterate believers in avoiding the onerous duties related to childbearing.
Oprah Winfrey
Ms. Winfrey is and has always been childfree. She is also husband-less, though maintaining a stable relationship with Stedman Graham for several decades. During that time they must have broached the subject a number of times, but it doesn’t seem to have affected their relationship in any serious way.
Discussing the issue, Winfrey came up with an unexpected comment – that she is sure her children would resent their life and hate her. They would suffer and eventually might want to open up about their relationship with their parents on some talk show similar to hers.
While there’s no telling just how right the famous host’s prognostications may be, it is clear that her irregularities in observing societal traditions don’t affect her life adversely.
Jennifer Aniston
Now and then tabloids publish the news that Jennifer Aniston is rumored to be pregnant – but nothing ever comes of it. It must be a kind of plague in her life – to have the public discuss her personal life so freely and go back to the same topic over and over again. Aniston and childbearing is a speculation that begins to chafe badly.
The actress believes it to be unfair to her. She says she may not have kids of her own, but she tries to act like a mother towards friends, pets and whoever nice comes her way. That’s a way of caring as well.
Jay and Mavis Leno
The comedian and his philanthropist wife made up their minds not to have children. It’s their mutual agreement, and Mavis, Leno’s wife for more than 30 years, disclosed the reason for their decision. She believes childbearing is so often the way to catch women. She doesn’t want to get caught, and there was even a time she was opposed to marriage. However, she changed her heart about that!
Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres
The two women have recently celebrated a decade of their marriage, but as for children, for the time being, their answer is no. According to de Rossi, neither she nor DeGeneres has a great desire to have children, so it is rather pointless. They will go on being together, no kids included.
De Rossi went on to add that DeGeneres and she are good friends and happy partners, so they are totally satisfied with how their life is going on.
Ellen DeGeneres
The famous host and actress is also the author of four books, and in her third book, Seriously… I’m Kidding she tackled the subject of having children. As she put it, both she and her partner are fond of children (“after they’ve been fed and bathed”). But when they fell to discussing begetting children, they agreed that it would be destructive for all the glass they have in the house.
These women never mind stereotypes and do what makes them happy, not what they think they should do because it is universally accepted mode of behavior.
Betty White
The Mayor of Hollywood is so engrossed in her career that way back then she decided not to bear children. Having given her full consideration to the issue, she felt she wouldn’t be able to “manage both” – and, as she said later, she never had a reason to regret her decision.
That could be supportive for families and couples who opt to go without children but have to listen to counter arguments like they are sure to regret it afterwards.
Cameron Diaz
There was a time in the life of the actress when she came to realize the fact that having children means a lot of work – so much work that she didn’t feel up to it. Consequently, she decided that it would never happen. She couldn’t think of shouldering that much responsibility for other lives than her own.
A baby for her meant giving them all day long for years on end, and according to Diaz, forgoing this responsibility made life easier for the actress. She reaped the benefits of her decision, sure enough.
Helen Mirren
The famous actress came to realize that her maternal instincts are – and have always been – dormant. That’s why she was honest with herself and went without kids.
What’s more, she suspects that there are quite a lot of women who feel just like her. Only they are made to feel that bearing children is their obligation and they are like this it is probably their shortcoming as a woman. Which isn’t true, and Mirren does set things right. Is that correct when women labor under pressure to lead the kind of life they don’t actually want?
Rachael Ray
The celebrity chef has got such a tight schedule that she has very little time for additional responsibilities. She is a bit guilty about not giving enough attention to her dog – so she believes she would be very wrong for delivering a baby and then having to scrape time to take care of it. That just won’t do!
Renée Zellweger
Zellweger’s ideas about childbearing – or rather, about not childbearing – are way simpler. First, she didn’t cherish an ambition to become a mom. Second, she is accustomed to taking everything as it comes – if things happen, they do, and if they don’t, they don’t. So, living childfree is her choice too.
Dolly Parton
The singer spent her childhood in a family with eight more children all younger than she was. She is very fond of her family, siblings, nephews and nieces, yet she ended up with the notion that she doesn’t want kids in her family. Maybe it’s understandable.
Candace Bushnell
Candace Bushnell is dead serious about her career – to the point when you don’t want distractions. Actually, she compares writing to rearing a child because she is passionate about it. Her occupation is engrossing, so she doesn’t have time and energy for kids, but she is glad that not everybody thinks like she does.
Kim Cattrall
Bushnell must have passed some of her attitudes through her work to women like Kim Cattrall. The actress came under pressure from those around her and was inclined to believe her biological clock was moving on fast, so she started thinking about bringing up a kid on her own. Then Cattrall had a moment of enlightenment and it dawned on her that she didn’t want to mother children.
It became clear to the actress that it was other people putting pressure on her but not her own volition. After that, she was able to work her way through social stereotypes and shake off the natural desire to please others by abiding by the public opinion. Here is another honest and courageous woman!
