Entertainment | Celebrity

The anti-mummies of Tinseltown

In baby- and pregnancy-obsessed Hollywood, Scene reveals why these stars are standing firm on their decision not to have children

By Nyree McFarlane, Deputy Editor, Scene magazine
Published: 10:25 November 28, 2012

Image Credit: Getty Images
Kim Cattrall:‘I’ve found other ways to fulfil my maternal instincts’.

Image 1 of 2: 1 2

Jennifer Westfeldt

‘Children change your relationship’

Despite having written, produced and directed 2011’s ensemble hit, Friends With Kids, 42-year-old Jennifer Westfeldt – who has dated Mad Men’s Jon Hamm for the past 15 years – admits she’s not interested in giving up her life and career to take on nappy duty. Insisting that having children, “always changes your friendship, at least that first year or so, in a way that I think is painful for both of you,” the actress and writer insists that the fear of regret in her later years isn’t a good enough reason to hop on the baby bandwagon.

“I never thought I’d be this age and not have kids,” she explains. “But my life has also gone in a million ways I never anticipated. I kept feeling like I’d wake up with absolute clarity,
and I haven’t. And we have a pretty great life together. The chance that we’ll regret it doesn’t seem like a compelling enough reason to do it.”

Kim Cattrall

‘I’ve found other ways to fulfil my maternal instincts’

The 56-year-old star has found herself in a place where her position on marriage and motherhood mirrors that of her most famous character, Sex And The City’s Samantha Jones.

Having been married and divorced three times, the Liverpool-born actress has been candid about her change of heart when it came to becoming a parent, revealing that she had been willing to go it alone after admitting to feeling “social pressure and my own biological clock ticking” in her mid-30s.

“I thought that without having children, I’d be missing something unique to being female,” says Kim. “I wanted to know that power and fall in unconditional love with a child.” However, a consultation with her doctor and a sperm bank left the Ghost Writer actress realising that motherhood was not for her.

“I try not to listen to the shoulds or coulds, and try to get beyond expectations, peer pressure, or trying to please,” admits Kim. “I realised that so much of the pressure I was feeling was from outside sources, and I knew I wasn’t ready to take that step into motherhood.” Adding, “I’ve found other ways to fulfil my maternal instincts – when a young actress comes to me for advice about her career, or when I give a talk at a school, babysit my friends’ kids, or work with children’s charities or organisations.”

Chelsea Handler

‘I wouldn’t be a good mother’

A close pal of Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, the 37-year-old talk show host
has seen her career take off over the past few years, leaving her firmly on the side of career-over-motherhood.

“I wouldn’t be a good mother,” admits the chat show maven. “I’m not a typical girl in the sense that I’m dying to get married or dying to procreate. I don’t really have those desires. I respect them, but I do feel like more of a guy in that way. And I don’t like to be tied down to one person. I don’t like long-term commitments.” But Chelsea has admitted to having felt maternal back in her teens, revealing, “I was so delusional. I was like, ‘I’m ready for a baby,’” said Handler. “And [my parents] were like, ‘You’re supposed to create a life for yourself, and we want you to enjoy your life and not be raising a child. And we’re certainly not going to raise it for you.’”

Christina Hendricks

‘I like my life as it is’

Although she stunned audiences with her illegitimate son storyline as Joan Holloway in Mad Men, Christina Hendricks has revealed she has no desire to start a family with her husband-of-three-years, actor Geoffrey Arend.

“I love babies, love working with babies, I appreciate them for being babies, and I do not want one for myself,” says the 37-year-old redhead. “I really like the way my life is now.” And it’s an outlook (500) Days Of Summer star, Arend, agrees with, insisting, “We’re having a lot of fun.”

And Christina, who is credited with kick-starting the new curvy trend in T-town, admits that she gets her maternal fix from babysitting duties for her friends, revealing, “We enjoy other people’s kids very much.”

Ellen DeGeneres

‘I don’t want one… I don’t want six!’

The 54-year-old comedian, who recently celebrated 10 years of her eponymous talk show, Ellen, being on air, is adamant that her life with Portia de Rossi does not include children anywhere in the future.

When quizzed by Jay Leno on his chat show about whether or not rumours surrounding a looming adoption we true, the star insisted, “I’ve said it so many times. We are not going to have a child. I don’t want to have one. I don’t want to have six. I don’t want to have any.” Adding, “They’re precious to look at and I love them. We have nieces and I love them very much. [But I] don’t want ’em.” But the talk show queen admits that she, “thought about it”, when it comes to expanding her family, but insisted, “We ultimately decided that we don’t want children of our own. There is far too much glass in our house.”