Cameron Diaz: I Could be the 'Next Octomom'

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In the July issue of Cosmopolitan UK, Cameron Diaz elaborates upon her stance on motherhood. Reiterating that she would “never say never,” the 36-year-old actress muses that she could “end up adopting half a dozen kids” and wind up “the next octomom,” or she could just as easily allow her nieces and nephews to take care of her in her old age. “Who fricking knows?” she asks.

“I don’t worry about what other people want for me. I just have to focus on what I want for myself.”

Constantly being posed the question of whether or not she’ll have a baby isn’t something that Cameron finds depressing, however. She notes that “in our society, [motherhood] is what you’re supposed to do.” The tides may be turning; Cameron goes on to note that she currently has more girlfriends without children than she has girlfriends who are mothers. “I think women are afraid to say they don’t want children because they’re going to get shunned,” she opines, adding,

“And honestly? We don’t need any more kids. We have plenty of people on this planet.”

Source: Cosmopolitan UK

Comments

I like her attitude. You know what they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.

- Chris on June 18th, 2009

She’s only saying all this because she has no idea of the joys of being a parent. I don’t blame her shes just doesn’t know.

- Elena on June 18th, 2009

Elena, I think you’re going to get a lot of flack for saying that.

I’ll never have children and it doesn’t bother me a whole lot. As Cameron says, there a plenty of people in the world already, and my tiny contribution makes no difference in the scheme of things. The majority of people are eager to have children, others are eager not to have children, and another percentage are non-committal either way. The human race isn’t in danger of dying off any time soon, so right now it’s all about the individual’s right to choose. Good for you, Cameron.

- actualsize on June 18th, 2009

I think it is incredibly hard for a woman to admit that she doesn’t want kids, since she will be asked about it from everyone until she reaches menopause, and it isn’t fair. It’s a brave thing to realize that you don’t want to do something the rest of the world does or wants very much to do. It’s a very personal decision and Cameron shouldn’t have to keep answering questions about her very personal decisions, none of us would.

I’m currently pregnant and have a co-worker who has said long ago she didn’t want children, therefore I haven’t even made any comments or announcements to her because I respect her decision, and even though I’m almost at 5 months and she will figure it out (there’s no way to hide a growing belly), I still have to respect what she has decided long ago. I don’t think she does the same in return, on comments made here and there but I have great respect for what she has decided and has acted on.

- Analia on June 18th, 2009

Right…..

Some celebrities tend to think of children as toys or collector’s items that they can just buy whenever they feel the need to dust off their parenting skills. Sad.

- Kate on June 18th, 2009

“We don’t need any more kids. We have plenty of people on this planet”
….she’s joking…right? i hope she is

- sil on June 18th, 2009

I find her honesty so refreshing. I especially like her focus on what she wants for herself and not what others want for her. If she doesn’t want kits, good for her. Each person has to make the decision that is right for him or her.

- Shelby on June 18th, 2009

Elena – do not ever assume things about other people. Period. What’s joyful to you, may not be to others. And yes, I am a mother, always wanted to be a mother and believe that FOR ME it’s the most beautiful thing int he world.

- martina on June 18th, 2009

I like her attitude too and she sort of stands up for other women who can’t have kids or choose not to by saying that if it happens it happens and if it doesn’t she’s plenty content with her life choices.
Elena – Of course for those who are already mothers it’s not like you’d go back and change it. It’s probably extremely magical to have your own child whether it be biologically or through adoption…but if you have never had kids you don’t really know the joy so there for your not really misssing out then are you??

I’m glad there are people who don’t buy into the whole “having a baby is everything” I’d hate to see people bring kids into the world who are just not sure. So for people like Cameron, Rachael Ray, Sandra Bullock, Kelly Clarkson, etc…..lay off them and let them be

- JMO on June 18th, 2009

I couldn’t agree less with the biased comment from Elena. Yes, babies are a wonderful, joyous blessing but there are other ways for people to find joy in their lives and make a difference in this world besides becoming parents. Volunteering for a children’s organization in the US or internationally and adopting are huge contributions that have a lasting impact on kids. Good for Cameron to know her own heart, mind and body!

- Forever Moore on June 18th, 2009

Not everyone is meant to or wants to have children, personally I think it’s a sign of maturity when someone realizes that they don’t want kids and aren’t afraid to admit it. Good for Cameron for not getting bothered by the constant questions. If I were a celebrity I wouldn’t be able to handle it so gracefully.

- Jeanne on June 18th, 2009

People need to leave Cameron alone about this! If you go back through her interviews, she is getting more and more blunt. How many diff. ways can she say she doesn’t want to have her own kids? It is totally OK to not want kids. I have one and can’t wait to add to our family. My sister has says she never wants kids. Both are fine decisions and we’ll both contribute to society in our own ways.

- MZ on June 18th, 2009

Sil, she probably said it in a joking tone but actually she’s right… it does not mean people should stop having kids or anything, but it’s true, we don’t need any more kids because we have already overpopulated the world.

Back on topic now, I like hearing from Cameron because maybe she will give more confidence to these women who don’t want children and who can feel oppressed by society sometimes. I’m not one of them but I do believe that you can be happy and fulfilled without kids.

- Alice on June 18th, 2009

Actually cameron is right! The world is reaching overpopulation and people who aren’t having kids are doing us a favor. I’m actually writing a paper about if infertility treatments and the growing Quiverfull movement will be deter mental to the environment. Anyywhoooo.

I’m in my early 20s and i go back and forth when it comes to have kids. When I’m bored, I think about it. When I’m in school or interning, kids are the last thing on my mind and I’m so happy that I really could see my life without them forever. However, I often wonder if this satisfaction that I get from work and social life is superficial compared to the satisfaction associated with motherhood. All my friends laugh at me because and say I won’t have a kid till i’m 40. I dunno, I just believe that my 20s are for me not a child. Anyway I liked Camerons comment.

- Anon on June 18th, 2009

I work in an office of about 15-16 people, 14 women and 2 men and out of those people 14 women 6 do not have children, never wanted them. These are women over the age of 45 so I dont think they will change their mind now…lol

That said, they are very supportive and like children, I sometimes have to leave early or come in late (I am single mother of 1) and they help me out. They also ALWAYS are bringing little gifts for my daughter and for Christmas and her birthday my daughter always get a bunch of gifts from my friends at work. Not wanting to have children does not mean you dont like children. We should respect others decisions and even though I am a mother and I LOVE being a mother, I believe not only a man and children can complete us, there is many other things that make us happy and fullfilled in life. Way to go Cameron, be happy with or without children.

- XOXO on June 18th, 2009

i agree with what she says, besides there are plenty of kids here that need homes, you don’t have to give birth to be a parent

- jessie on June 18th, 2009

Actually, it’s simplistic to say that there are too many children on this planet. Some areas are experiencing unsustainable population growth. Others are not even at replacement level. There are seriously problems with an older population. Western Europe and the U.S. to a lesser extent actually shoould be encouraging more people to have kids(assuming they can support them) IMO. We need the resources that a younger population can provide.

- Kate on June 18th, 2009

“We don’t need any more kids. We have plenty of people on this planet”

I think she’s wrong on this for sure! God wants us to POPULATE the earth!!

- Doreen on June 18th, 2009

I think its a silly question for a person to answer when they aren’t in a relationship.

The reason she says she doesn’t know is probably because she isn’t in a committed relationship or in a situation where she would have kids with someone. I think she’s saying she’s not going to go out and get pregnant as a single mom, but if she settles down, then who knows what will happen.

Women, in general, tend to change their mind about these things depending on where they are at in life. I have plenty of friends/family who said they didn’t want kids, until they got married and got the itch.

- Allison on June 18th, 2009

Does anyone else think this topic is quite old too. Seems like anytime someone mentions they’re unsure about kids or choose not to have them it becomes a debate of “well they don’t knwo what they’re talking about because they’ve never experienced it!” or “they’ll change their mind some day or regret it if they don’t!”

I can’t imagine being a celebrity and constantly being asked about your personal life. Crap, I am 26 and get asked from family all the time about when I’m “going to settle”….I wasn’t aware that when I was born there was a specific time frame of when I had to get on with it and give up my single lifestyle to please the likes of others!! I know I def. want to be a mother and if I could be one tomorrow maybe I would. I love kids and can’t imagine life without one. However, I can’t just magically make my prince appear and so far money hasn’t fallen from the sky, so until all that happens I may not be on that road to settling down anytime soon!

Sil, Joking or not, she’s right! I fear for what our future children and grandchildren will have to endure 50+ years from now. With an over growing population also comes an extreme problem of added pollution. We already live on a planet that’s experiencing major global warming whether you’d like to believe it or not. It’s scary living in today’s world and not knowing what it will be like for my own kids is even scarier.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have kids because of fear of what could happen. But I can only speak for myself when I say that I def. put my kids future’s into perspective before heading down that road.

- JMO on June 18th, 2009

I love Cameron, she has such a great personality and sense of humour.

I think the ‘We have plenty of people on this planet’ comment was great. Her not having kids isnt going to end the population.

I want kids but I know people who don’t, I love kids and seem to be good with them, they like kids to an extent but they dont want to spend a great deal of their life raising them.

- Sammy-xx on June 18th, 2009

She must get so sick of answering this question over and over! Man, what an intrusive and private thing to be asked constantly.

She’s right, it is hard for a woman to admit she doesn’t want children because she may be shunned….. Just in 20 or so replies to this post there are people judging her.

- alice jane on June 18th, 2009

I’d be interested to know the findings of “Anon”‘s studies, since most of the prominent demographers have stated that there are more countries who are below replacement rate than who are overpopulated.

Many are already below replacement native rate, including Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan, Greece. There are some countries/areas that are overcrowded, but that can’t be extrapolated out to the whole world. Birth rates are falling world-wide, even if they seem to be teeming in certain areas.

In countries with dangerously low birth rates — meaning well below the replacement rate of 2.1 births — who is going to be the workforce to support an increasingly aging population if no one is having any children to replace them?

I’m not sure that Cameron’s approach – “We don’t need any more kids” – is sustainable. I’m not trying to bash her — not everyone needs to be a mother, and not every mother needs to give birth. There are many ways to create a family, such as adoption, but to say that you’re not having kids because of global overpopulation may be a flawed assumption.

- ACL on June 18th, 2009

I agree Alice Jane. Right on!

And I kind of blame CBB for this. Isn’t this old news? What is the benefit of reprinting the same information everytime she gets asked about kids? Just because she was aksed recently doesn’t mean her answers have changed. We aren’t learning anything new.

- michelle on June 18th, 2009

I don’t understand why these female celebrities who clearly DON’T want kids continue to answer the questions about babies? Why keep answering the questions? Why not say “next question” when asked and make it clear she’s not interested? She can’t be concerned about offending people because she’s said some offensive things over the years about politics and no one stopped seeing her movies because of it (they just stopped seeing them because they weren’t any good).

If women really want to be free to make their own choices then it would help if celebrities like Cameron started acting more like the posters here who state openly how they feel about having children. If she doesn’t want kids, just say it. And if she changed her mind some day, no one would hold it against her. I mean if George Clooney got married and had kids would anyone hate on him for changing his mind? No, same goes for Cameron.

I personally think that these celebrities aren’t afraid of admitting their true feelings but instead they blab on about maybe having kids as a way to garner attention. I mean Cameron would never be on this site or many others if she didn’t wax on about maybe wanting kids or maybe not wanting them. Personally I don’t know why CBB even posts news about childless celebrities? It’s a celebrity baby site and there’s no celebrity baby involved in this post.

- Mimi on June 18th, 2009

I believe a woman should have a right to choose. Just as not everyone is suited to marriage, not everyone should be a parent—as is evidenced by the number of child abuse cases in the United States that are reported every day. Everyone is different and each individual must decide what is right for them and not be badgered into a wrong decision for her own life just because a “well meaning” person tells them that a)they should be married b)they should have children. This is what freedom of choice and free will is all about people.

- claudiazz on June 18th, 2009

Not everyone that reads CBB has or wants children. I was introduced to this site by my sister, who is a great aunt to my boys but wants no kids of her own. And obviously this is something people want to talk about, just look at the number of comments. If you aren’t interested in a story just skip it, that’s what I do. Clearly a number of people are interested in the topic….JMO.

- Brandi on June 18th, 2009

Allison, I COMPLETELY agree with you!

- Lis on June 18th, 2009

I’ve been debating this same exact topic in my mind for as long as i can remember im 24 and have decided I dont want children, if it happens it happens. I have informed my mom and grandmother about my decision they just look at me as if im going through a phase and would get over it as soon as i meet the right man. But no i dont see children in my life i have a god son and that is sufficient enought for im an only child so im not going to have neices or nephews, I love children just like the next person but thank god I dont have to deal with the daily issues involving having one, my focus in life is to be happy and to have a good career .I whole heartedly agree with cameron on speaking out on this topic, we women are looked upon for even uttering the no children topic I tip my hat to her… CHILDREN ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE.

- lulu on June 18th, 2009

My studies are in the beginning stages, but its going to be my exiting thesis. It would be foolhardy to have a ready outcome for my paper. I don’t know what the results will be because I’m researching it now. So far however, from what i’ve been reading. The overall world, sans looking at individual countries is overpopulated and is facing some hardships.

Yes, I am fully aware that places like japan are underpopulated in terms of preventing a workforce decline. However, those issues in the past of often resolved themselves with this thing called immigration. Thats what happens when there’s a surplus of jobs in a place and not a enough people in a country to fill them.

This still doesn’t change the fact that natural resources are limited and in the distant future we will run into a problem finding fresh water, irrigation, agriculture, meat production, living space, waste management and pollution.

http://www.populationinstitute.org/population-issues/

check it out.

- Anon on June 18th, 2009

and JMO I really really agree with your last paragraph. I think about that quite a bit too. I’m actually considering leaving the states to start some place new; the world is so interconnected these days that it may not make much of a difference.

- Anon on June 18th, 2009

you go cameron! stand up for what you believe. not everyone has the desire to have children. I didn’t,and now i have 4,and couldn’t see my life any different.

- dawn on June 18th, 2009

I admire Cameron. She is chosing the life she wants to live. Any person who wakes up one day and suddenly remembers they “forgot” to have kids is probably not someone who should be a parent anyway! On the flip side, how come the question is ever asked – are you sorry you had kids? Because I bet there are many people who in their heart of hearts who would ruffle a lot of feathers with their answer. Just saying…

- Erin on June 18th, 2009

That sounds like an interestin exit paper, anon.

I never wanted children. Until I met my husband during college and we both felt compelled to start a family together. Had I not met him, I’m sure I would have married and loved someone else but I dunno if a baby Gaia would be in the picture.

- gaia's mommadukes on June 18th, 2009

Yeah I do really respect Cameron, what a much more straightforward answer than last time!! One of my best friends doesn’t want children but she’s perfectly happy to be an ‘aunt’ to my son and I think a lot of it is because she is so happy with her life and she just can’t simply imagine her life with a child because she’s seen how hard it is for me to focus on the rest of my life as well as my little boy and she doesn’t want that. Which is fair enough as there are plenty of people on this planet! Having said that, I think she and Cameron would make great mothers if they do ever decide to have children, should the opportunity arise!

- babyboopie on June 18th, 2009

Cameron is probably being asked this question because of the movie she is promoting where for the FIRST time she takes on the role of being a mother in My Sister’s Keeper. I bet if she wasn’t promoting this movie the question would probably not be raised.

- JMO on June 18th, 2009

About the overpopulation question, it’s not about economy and who will be the workforce for the country or whatever. It’s about the whole planet. The resources are limited and humanity as a whole is too big for them (because of the richest people’s way of life, but still). There used to be natural regulation mechanisms just like for other animal populations: diseases, predators etc but we keep pushing the limits and now nothing limits us. So yes, there are enough kids on the planet. Maybe not enough in this or that country but as Anon said, people who don’t want kids are doing us a favor.

- Alice on June 18th, 2009

Ayyyy, Elena. I’ve actually met a handful of parents who’ve outright told me “Parenthood isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be”. It’s not for everyone..and I also don’t believe the statement of “it’s different when they’re yours”.

Not everyone is supposed to have a family. The reasons to have children or not have them vary as much as the individual. In other words, speak only for yourself.

- felicity on June 18th, 2009

I like the stance cameron is taking. I also believe kids are not for everyone. And that are planet is already over populated. That being said I hope to have at least four if not more children (mostly adopted). I respect her for not wanting children and like she said if she changes her mind she can always adopt later. Whatever makes a person happy. I very much agree with anon and JMO.

- Liv on June 18th, 2009

Just like I’ve always known that I want children someday, others may have always known that they never want to have them. Lord knows, judging by the number of children in foster care in the US, some people shouldn’t have children. I think we need that mix. If everyone decided that they didn’t want children, that wouldn’t work, but if everyone decided that they do want children, that wouldn’t work, either. It’s not an easy topic to discuss, because whether you say you do want kids or you don’t, you’ll get flak for your feelings!

- Sarah M. on June 18th, 2009

I had to read this article for a second time because I thought I missed something. Nowhere does she say she doesn’t want kids EVER. She says she may adopt or she may not. To me that is someone who might like to have kids some day. Why do people think having kids is only about giving birth to them yourself? She is right when she said the world is overpopulated, there are also many children around the world who are unwanted and looking for homes. Whether she has kids or not and however she decides to do this (if she in fact decides to) at least she is thinking carefully about it instead of just having her own kids for the sake of it.

- isa maria on June 19th, 2009

doreen…

Please tell me you are joking.

and if you are serious, then at what point would you consider the earth “populated” enough? when there is not enough food and resources to support us anymore? God help us if everyone thinks the way you do.

- fuzibuni on June 19th, 2009

of course just coz one has the equipment doesn’t mean one is obliged to use it. also, just coz someone is female doesn’t mean they are supposed to want to procreate. some women want to do so, and others don’t. the ones that don’t shouldn’t be razzed or whatever, or made to feel like freaks or abnormal.

society is weird that way. they never say such things about men that don’t want kids, but when a woman says she doesn’t, holy heck rises.

- eternalcanadian on June 21st, 2009