What Oprah Winfrey Has Said About Not Having Kids
Not everyone wants to have children, and the choice to have them or not is deeply personal. Famous women "of a certain age" who are in the public spotlight frequently face concerns about their bodies and biological clocks as well as intrusive inquiries about whether they intend to start a family.
Media magnate Oprah Winfrey is definitely one of those celebrities being bombarded with questions about marriage and motherhood. Having been together with her partner Stedman Graham for 36 years, it is unlikely that she’ll get married or have kids of their own. In different interviews, the well-known television host discussed this controversial choice.
Did Oprah Ever Have Kids?
Oprah Winfrey is in charge of a vast business that includes everything from book clubs to ready-to-eat meals and television programming. She has spent the majority of her life in the public eye after putting in a lot of effort to become a talk show host and celebrity interviewer.
However, the host isn’t a stranger to personal challenges and issues. One of the issues thrown at her was motherhood. Did she ever get pregnant? Apparently yes.
In her program Life Class, she set the record straight about having kids and her traumatic experience. At age 14, she gave birth to a baby (that, unfortunately, did not survive) but “never felt like it was” hers. She also described that experience of hers as the “most traumatic” time in her early life.
Oprah admitted, “I was so ashamed. I hid the pregnancy until my swollen ankles and belly gave me away." Additionally, she decided to keep the child as a result of her detachment. "I saved that baby because I was so disassociated and still do feel such a disassociation. I never felt like it was my baby," she said. "The experience was the most emotional, confusing, traumatic of my young life."
The loss of her premature baby was difficult for Oprah to handle. However, her father advised her to look forward to her future.
She confessed, "When that child died, my father said to me, 'This is your second chance. This is your opportunity to cease this moment and make something of your life. I took that chance and understood for myself, that now I know better so I can do better."
Did Oprah Ever Want To Have Kids?
After the traumatic experience she had at an early age, many may wonder if Oprah would want to have children with her longtime partner, Stedman. However, the couple believes not getting married saved their relationship and have seemingly found the secret to a lasting relationship, and apparently, that secret includes not having children.
Addressing the issue, she revealed they contemplated having children, but it wasn’t one of her dreams. In an interview, she said: “At one point in Chicago I had bought an additional apartment because I was thinking, ‘Well, if we get married, I’m going to need room for children.’”
She also admitted that being a host showed her “the depth of responsibility and sacrifice that is actually required to be a mother.”
She added, “I realized, ‘Whoa, I’m talking to a lot of messed-up people, they are messed up because they had mothers and fathers who were not aware of how serious that job is. I don’t have the ability to compartmentalize the way I see other women do. It is why, throughout my years, I have had the highest regard for women who choose to be at home [with] their kids, because I don’t know how you do that all day long. Nobody gives women the credit they deserve.”
Adding to the reason why the couple chose not to have kids, Oprah admitted that she doesn’t think she’d be a good mother. She said, “I didn’t want babies. I wouldn’t have been a good mom for babies. I don’t have the patience. I have the patience for puppies, but that’s a quick stage!”
Did Oprah Plan To Adopt Kids?
Just like anyone else, Oprah has the right to do what she wants with her life. If she thinks she’d not be a good mother at all and prefers to keep things between her and her partner as is, then people must respect her choice. And though she might not have her own kids, the host reportedly included "yet-to-be-adopted" children in her will.
Oprah has extended her family through building the Oprah Winfrey Leadership for Girls in South Africa. And through that, she said that her maternal void is already filled through the kids she’d been helping.
She said, “I have not had one regret about that. I also believe that part of the reason why I don’t have regrets is because I got to fulfill it in the way that was best for me (referring to the leadership academy).” The host further explained, “Those girls fill that maternal fold that I perhaps would have had. In fact, they overfill – I’m overflowed with maternal.” In another interview in 2017, she said that helping the girls is “more rewarding.”
She said, “It is more rewarding that I would ever have imagined. I was doing this to help them, but it has brought a light to my life that I can’t explain…When people were pressuring me to get married and have children, I knew I was not going to be a person that ever regretted not having them, because I feel like I am mother to the world’s children.”
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