14 Times Female Celebrities Admitted Just How Difficult It Is To Be A Parent — Like, It's All Very Eye-Opening

Note: Some stories include topics of postpartum depression. Please proceed with caution.

1.Rihanna

"You really don't remember life before [you have a kid] — that's the craziest thing ever. You literally try to remember it — and there are photos of my life before — but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, you just don't identify with it. You don't even allow yourself mentally to get that far, because…because it doesn't matter."

Source: An interview with British Vogue from 2023.

2.Reese Witherspoon

"After each child, I had a different experience. One kid I had mild postpartum, and the other kid I had severe postpartum where I had to take pretty heavy medication because I just wasn't thinking straight. And then, I had one kid where I had no postpartum at all. We don't understand the kind of hormonal rollercoaster you go on when you stop nursing — no one explained that to me. I was 23 years old when I had my first baby, and nobody explained to me that when you wean a baby, your hormones go into the toilet. I felt more depressed than I'd ever felt in my whole life. It was scary."

Source: An interview from Jameela Jamil's I Weigh podcast from 2020.

3.Keke Palmer

"When it comes to raising a kid, I've already learned in these short few days that it takes a village, and sometimes, that's a privilege. And I just want anybody out there [who's] a single parent [who's] been doing this — friends of mine, people who I don't know, family members of mine — really in my heart, it brings tears to my eyes. I am just truly, profoundly impressed."

Source: Keke Palmer's Instagram from 2023.

4.Angelina Jolie

"I have six very individual human beings in my home. I am so excited about all the different stages and feelings and curiosities that they go through — why wouldn't you be? I think they've had a very significant effect on each other — it's not like I'm the head of anything. I'm very honest with my kids, and I'm very human with my kids. My children have done many, many loving things. [Their] kindness has been very healing to me."

Source: An interview with People from 2021.

5.Jennifer Lopez

"Everything about my upbringing informs me as a person and as a mother today — the things I learned about working hard, being a good person, and following your dreams. All of those things that I learned when I was little that my mom and dad tried to teach me, I try to pass on to my kids as well. I have teenagers now (you know everybody warns you about this stage in life, and it's definitely different from when they were little). But, you have to grow with your kids. They wind up teaching you, and you evolve as a person — 'cause you have to."

Source: An interview for a Coach campaign from 2023.

6.Ali Wong

"I'll tell you how I balance family and career — real talk? I have a nanny. That's it. That's the answer. Yes, it's very unlikable and unpopular to broadcast that because not everybody can afford a nanny — it's super expensive. Both me and [my now ex-husband] have to hustle. We have to work very hard to not take care of our child ourselves...my nanny is 62 years old. I would never hire anything younger than 62 years old. If you are hiring a 25-year-old pretty young thing to be your nanny, you're a dumbass."

Source: Ali Wong's stand-up special Hard Knock Wife from 2018.

7.Drew Barrymore

"[My kids are] almost 9 and 10. It's shifted into something very different, and I'm having the best time ever — I have learned boundaries. I want to admit that I'm flawed or I don't know things — I am a work in progress. I had to learn to parent myself, but that parenting style wasn't going to work for my kids. That was much more survival, and not what I would want for my kids."

"But I do want to figure out how to be more patient, more kind, and more rational. I fail here and there, but I'm like: 'Can I learn from that?' The way you treat people in life, to me, is sort of everything."

Source: An interview from the Chicks in the Office podcast from 2022.

8.Serena Williams

"Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk — mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom. I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to three years if not dealt with. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, [and] my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal. It's totally normal to feel like I'm not doing enough for my baby. We have all been there — I work a lot, I train, and I'm trying to be the best athlete I can be."

"However, that means although I have been with her every day of her life, I'm not around as much as I would like to be. Most of you moms deal with the same thing. Whether stay-at-home or working, finding that balance with kids is a true art. You are the true heroes.

I'm here to say if you are having a rough day or week, it’s okay — I am, too!!! There's always tomm!"

Source: Serena Williams's Instagram from 2018.

9.Mariah Carey

"I'm going to have to quote Mean Girls and be like: 'I'm not a regular mom — I'm a cool mom.' No, there are rules in this house — that's the difference. Like, I want to be that — I don't like being the bad guy, I have to say. I hate that more than anything. So, you know, I do want to be like: 'I'm not really a mom — I'm a cool mom.' But you're never a cool mom — you just never are."

Source: An interview with Us Weekly from 2021.

10.Madonna

"Today I am still struggling to understand how to be a mother and do my job — because whoever you are, having children and raising them is a work of art. No one gives you a manual — you have to learn from mistakes. It is a profession that requires a lot of time. It is exhausting because there is never rest."

Source: An interview with Vanity Fair from 2023.

11.Mindy Kaling

"Being a single mom is not for everyone. My parents were immigrants, and they both worked and had a different kind of immediate fear. It was: 'Okay, we've got to put food on the table, [and] build our careers over again.' I sometimes try to summon that feeling that my parents had, which is like, if I could just extricate myself a little bit from this and allow them to experience risk — I think that would be the best for them."

"If anything, [parenthood] has given me this flooding of memories of my childhood. I feel like I'm able to write even more — that has been one of the most unexpected pleasures of having children, is being able to tap back into my own youth."

Source: An interview with People from 2021.

12.Victoria Beckham

"I feel blessed to have experienced both: being a mother to boys and also a girl. But also, four is a lot of kids — it's less about parenting and more about crowd control. I found out I was pregnant when I was on tour [with the Spice Girls], and the first show in the US was August in Miami in an amphitheater. I was in a catsuit that was expanding by the day. I had a wig on to try and get the humidity under control — I had a bucket on the side of the stage that I was throwing up in constantly because I had such bad morning sickness with Brooklyn [Beckham]. Morning sickness doesn't mean you're only sick in the morning!"

Source: An interview from Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast from 2022.

13.Khloé Kardashian

"I know it's cliché, but I love everything [about motherhood] — even the hard parts. [My kids] challenge me as a person, and being able to shape little people into really incredible big people is an honor and a gift. We have to take those roles seriously, especially in today's day and age with how much accessibility children have and the information they're exposed to so young. It's super scary, but I take my job very seriously. I love it so much."

Source: An interview with Elle from 2022.

14.And Anne Hathaway

"The kids thing has made me a bit choosier [with acting roles] because something has to be so excellent to spend time away from them because they're so precious to me. They're the most sacred part of my life by a long shot. So, when I do accept something, it puts greater pressure on me to make it worth the time I've spent away from them. I've always felt a responsibility (with mixed results) for the audience who are going to see the project that I'm going to work on — I take it very seriously."

Source: An interview on The Jess Cagle Show from 2022.