Halle Berry is a woman of many talents. She’s an Academy Award-winning actress, a director, a producer, and a mother of two. Berry has always been candid about her experiences as a mom, sharing her insights and struggles in interviews and on social media.
Berry’s journey into motherhood began in 2008 when she welcomed her first child, daughter Nahla, with her then-partner Gabriel Aubry. Three years later, Berry gave birth to her second child, a son named Maceo, with her now-ex-husband Olivier Martinez. Berry has always been open about the joys and challenges of motherhood, and she’s made it clear that her children are her top priority.
“My two little kids, they have to lose so much time with their mommy because I get to go work and do what I love,” Berry said in her acceptance speech for the People’s Icon Award in 2021. “So thank you Nahla, thank you Maceo — I hope you find something in life that you can love and you can do with as much vigor and as much zest as I do what I do. I love you guys.”
But being a working mom isn’t always easy, and Berry has been candid about the challenges that come with juggling a career and motherhood. In a 2019 interview with InStyle, Berry revealed that she struggled with guilt in the early years of her children’s lives.
“I spent almost 10 years being in mom mode,” Berry said. “Now that my youngest is starting kindergarten, I feel like I can get back into my life, and that’s important. I want to keep challenging myself and proving that I can still follow my passions, take risks and take on characters who make me feel alive.”
Despite the challenges, Berry has found joy in motherhood and has embraced the lessons that come with raising children. She’s learned to let go of societal pressures and embrace her own journey as a mother, encouraging other moms to do the same.
While the star shares that she “loved being pregnant” and “probably would have had five children” under different circumstances. She also shared that “if I hadn’t been busy trying to make movies, I would have been the perfect surrogate.”
“If you’re in your mid-thirties, don’t be bogged down by the idea that you have to have children by a certain age,” Berry told Women’s Health. “You decide. And if you want to have children, you don’t have to be defined by those old ideologies that this is what women ‘have’ to do. Do it only if you want to, because you give up a lot of your personal life to growing those other lives. And maybe you’re not a woman who wants to do that. No harm, no foul, no judgment.”
At the end of the day, Berry’s children are her greatest joy and accomplishment. She’s proud of the people they’re becoming and excited to see where life takes them.
“I want to keep challenging myself and proving that I can still follow my passions, take risks and take on characters who make me feel alive,” Berry said. “But I prove that to myself, not to anyone else. I think that’s what keeps us young. It keeps me connected to my children because I’m alive in the world. One day they’re going to grow up, and I don’t want to be the mom who’s crying because her kids left. I want to be the mom who says, ‘Yes, girl, go fly. Go do you, do your life.'”
Sources
https://people.com/parents/halle-berry-wanted-five-kids-wouldve-been-surrogate-instyle/
