Brenda Song, Hilary Duff, Dwayne Johnson, And 12 Other Celebrities Who Got Brutally Honest About The Struggles And Realities Of Parenthood
1.Hilary Duff
In an essay for Refinery 29, the Younger actor wrote, "I love my kids more than anything. I cannot imagine not being a parent. But I don't always like them. I'm constantly cleaning up after them, and they're both always running in two separate directions, and it's absolutely exhausting. It's also the best, most rewarding thing."
2.Karamo Brown
On an episode of Red Table Talk: The Estefans, the Queer Eye star shared that he faced colorism from his own family growing up, and he's determined to stop the cycle with his sons. "I tell them their skin is gorgeous — that dark is beautiful. I want to make sure they hear it. And I realize it's important, the language I have in my home. I no longer allow other family members...or anyone to make comments to my kids and me to walk away."
"There's something I say to people all the time: Comparison is the thief of joy," he continued. "If you want to steal the joy from your family, whether it's their skin tone, whether it's their education, keep comparing your kids and see if you don't steal the joy and the love that's in your home."
3.Brenda Song
Earlier this year, the Disney alum told the Cut about the struggles she faced as a new mom returning to work. "I pride myself on always being first on set. So to be like, 'Hey, I need 20 minutes to pump' was difficult. The hours away from my son took a toll on me. Learning my own boundaries while trying to take care of my son and my family — that was hard."
"The biggest challenge is being away from family," she continued. "I know everyone feels that way. There were so many long days where I’d get home, and my son would already be asleep. I put a lot of pressure on myself to keep pumping and breastfeeding him while I was working. I pumped throughout production."
"I knew my son was taken care of; I just had FOMO. Missing those hours with my newborn son, it pains me, but at the end of the day, mama’s got to put food on the table. You’ve got to make those sacrifices. Hopefully he’ll understand."
4.Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade
The couple has been outspoken about their love and support for their trans daughter, Zaya. Earlier this year, Gabrielle told BuzzFeed, "It's important for us to live and love out loud. We didn't exactly understand why [supporting Zaya's trans identity] was a thing because it's like, we love all our kids out loud. But it is a thing, and a lot of people do need an example."
"As our children show up, it is our job to believe them when they tell us who they are and not impose our dreams, hopes, fears, and desires on them. It's our job to be loving, compassionate, protective guides for our children, but their lives are their lives and we have to respect that," she concluded.
On the All the Smoke podcast, Dwyane said that he watched Zaya "become into who she now eventually has come into. Nothing changes with my love. Nothing changes with my responsibilities. Only thing I gotta do now is get smarter, educate myself more."
5.Shay Mitchell
The Dollface actor – who welcomed her second child, Rome, this year – faced a ton of mom-shaming back when she gave birth to daughter Atlas. During a 2021 interview, she told People, "I don't pay attention to the mom-shaming; I don't have time for it. You're doing the best job that you can do, and that should be your main focus. I give all of my time and energy to Atlas and things that are important in my life."
6.Dwayne Johnson
During an interview with Fatherly, the Black Adam actor shared that his difficult relationship with his late father has affected his own experience of fatherhood. "What was intentional was doing my best to be a better dad than my dad was for me. And my dad loved me with the capacity that he had, but we had a challenging, complicated relationship. So now with my daughters, especially my younger daughters, the intention is to just be a good dad and be there. That means taking them to school every morning, picking them up, taking them to soccer, being that dad."
7.Hayden Panettiere
On an episode of Live! with Kelly and Michael, the Nashville actor said, "[Postpartum depression] is something a lot of women experience. When they tell you about postpartum depression, you think about 'I feel negative feelings towards my child; I want to injure or hurt my child.' I’ve never, ever had those feelings. Some women do. But you don’t realize how broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on. It’s something that needs to be talked about. Women need to know that they’re not alone, and that it does heal."
"There’s a lot of misunderstanding. There are a lot of people out there that think it’s not real, that it’s not true, that it’s something that’s made up in their minds, that 'Oh, it’s hormones.' They brush it off. It’s something that’s completely uncontrollable. It’s really painful, and it’s really scary, and women need a lot of support."
8.Jamie Chung
A few months ago, the Once Upon a Time actor — who welcomed twins via a surrogate last year — told SheKnows, "I think I fought [parenthood] for a long time because I feared losing my identity, as a working person and seeing my mom who did everything for us. She is the hardest worker I know. She worked two jobs, bought the house, kept a roof over our heads, like she did everything for us. But she kind of lost her identity. And so, I was terrified of that."
9.Halsey
Last year, the singer shared an Instagram post addressing people's comments on their body after having a baby. "I did SNL two nights ago, and a lot of people were quick to say how good I looked," they wrote. "That was a weird feeling. My body has felt like a stranger’s for a long time. I uphold myself to honesty to the point of over sharing sometimes, but this feels important. The first picture on this slide is days after my baby was already born. A lot of people don’t know that you still look pregnant for a while after."
"If you’ve been following me because you’re also a parent and you dig what I’m doing, please know I’m in your corner. I will never have my 'pre-baby body back' no matter how it changes physically because I have now had a baby! And that has altered me forever: emotionally, spiritually, and physically. That change is permanent. And I don’t want to go back! But in the spirit of honesty, I’m really tired and not a superhuman, and this is really hard. Doing my best to serve my art and my family whilst keeping it all so very real," they concluded.
10.Mindy Kaling
During a 2021 interview with Today Parents, the Never Have I Ever creator said, "As a single mom, it really does take a village. Yes, I am the parent of my two children — but there are all these other caregivers in the form of family, friends, and nannies. I couldn’t do it without the village. Absolving myself of guilt for depending on others has been the biggest piece of advice that has helped me."
11.Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs
The couple, who separated in 2013, co-parents by prioritizing their son, Walker. In 2016, Idina told People, "Your child comes first, that's all. It's all about that. He comes first and you have to get past your own egos, and you never talk bad about each other."
In 2015, Taye shared a similar sentiment with People. "He's what's most important for us, so we're still there as a family. We were friends to start out with, but especially when you have a kid in the mix, there's no time for any negativity."
12.Chrissy Teigen
For years, Chrissy has been open about her infertility struggles. After a life-saving abortion in 2020, she is now pregnant again and often shares the ups and downs of IVF, which she also used to conceive Miles and Luna. "I think women are so hard on themselves and so tough on their bodies and tough on themselves mentally and in every aspect of life," she told Parents.
She's passionate about normalizing fertility issues and making sure people who suffer in silence know they're not alone. "It makes me sad to know that is happening out there with some women and couples. It's so much more common than you might think."
13.Justin Baldoni
Last year, the Jane the Virgin actor told the Bump, "Every night, we say mantras like 'I’m brave, I’m strong and powerful.' When it comes to [my daughter], I always lead with the more 'masculine' words. 'I’m a leader, I’m resilient.' I want her to have these qualities despite the world telling her she shouldn’t. And for my son, I’m focusing on the qualities the world tells him it’s not okay to have: empathy, compassion, sensitivity. So at night, I start with more 'feminine' words for him. 'I am patient, I’m loving, I’m kind.'"
"I think that girls are often given the vocabulary and boys aren’t. If you ask a girl how she feels, oftentimes, she can tell you, but boys have no idea. It’s about validating it and naming it. As boys, we’re taught the only thing that it’s okay to feel is anger. Once you open that up, you realize anger is really just unexpressed pain. But we skip that part — that’s where we go wrong."
14.Constance Wu
During an episode of Meghan Markle's podcast, Archetypes, Constance revealed that her mom didn't want her to publicly announce her attempted suicide. "My mom was like, 'Okay, well, think about your daughter now that you put this statement out. Is this something that you want her knowing that you did? You’re a public figure now; you shouldn’t let these things out.' It’s funny because I can see her point, but I said, 'You know what, mom? I do want her to know that.'"
"I do want her to know that everybody, including her mom, goes through a hard time, and when you go through those hard times, people will help you, and you can find help, and you can get better," she concluded.
15.And finally, Kristen Bell
