Charlize Theron: I’ve Always Wanted a Family

Courtesy Vogue U.K.

There was never any doubt Charlize Theron would be a mother — and with the recent adoption of her son Jackson, her dreams have finally come true.

“I’ve always been very honest in saying I wanted a family. I’ve always known I wanted a family,” the Snow White and the Huntsman actress, 36, tells the May issue of Vogue U.K.

But while she couldn’t wait to be a mom, Theron laughs she wasn’t the only one vying for her 5-month-old African-American baby boy.

“I don’t think my mom could wait anymore!” she shares of expanding her family.

Calling Jackson “the coolest kid ever,” the proud new mom is already envisioning everything the future holds for the “incredible … gift” she was given.

“[I hope] to be like my mom. Fair, tough, and supportive,” Theron reveals. “Our family is everything. Her greatest skill was encouraging me to find my own person and own independence.”

– Anya Leon

Comments

Anonymous on April 6th, 2012

Why does he have to be a “Five month old African-American baby boy”? Why can’t he just be her 5 month old baby boy?

Michelle on April 6th, 2012

Fair, tough and supportive. Those are great traits to aspire to. I hope to be the same. I love Charlize and wish her all the happiness in the world.

Lisa L on April 6th, 2012

Awww that is wonderful! He is African American!

Maria on April 6th, 2012

Anon, because this is the first time she confirms it. I believe Us Weekly had it rumored that he was black but Charlize had not said herself. And now she has. There were also rumors that he was adopted from South Africa, so now it is clear that this was a domestic adoption.

Rhonda on April 6th, 2012

I’m happy that she has finally been able to achieve her goal of becoming a mom. I am sure that her baby will have a wonderful life.

Sophia on April 6th, 2012

I know her as much (or little) as everyone else, just by on TV, but I really do believe she’ll be a great mom. She has so much experience in life, both bitter and great experiences, so she has so much to give and teach to a child. Besides, she’s always been funny and crazy in interviews. Which I think any child would like

Tt on April 6th, 2012

Or she could turn out like mommy dearest. She’s an actress… Who knows what she’s really like. I saw photos of her carrying the baby in a carseat and the seat was almost on its side. Very odd way to carry a 5 month old. One thing is for sure, she’s using the kid to drum up publicity already.

rose on April 6th, 2012

why do all these celebritys need to go to foreign countrys to adopt when there are so many children in the u.s. that need homes???

Liz on April 6th, 2012

I agree with Tt. Charlize doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Hopefully she’ll be a good mom. Adopted children need extra TLC so hopefully she doesn’t leave her nanny to raise him. I wish him a wonderful life.

It’s odd too that someone as gorgeous as she is and who I’m sure has men chasing her down, chose to go the route of single parenthood. Having a father is optimum for children.

kristen on April 6th, 2012

Hey Rose- what part of “African-American boy” screams foreign adoption to you? Unless you are assuming that he was born in Africa to American parents but that seems to be a stretch. Pays to read.

Cee Gee on April 6th, 2012

Maybe she went to South Africa to adopt because she herself is South African…

Cindy on April 6th, 2012

Don’t forget that Charlize herself is “African-American” – as she is from South Africa. Who knows if he’s black? There are plenty of people from that continent that are not.

daffywak on April 6th, 2012

you know,she is south african so if she wanted to adopt internationally she has every right to do so.

sally on April 6th, 2012

Well good for her!

JM on April 6th, 2012

rose, i don’t understand your point. are American children more important that other children? surely if a child from ANYWHERE without a home is given a home that can only be a good thing?

congratulations to her and her little one.

Maggie on April 6th, 2012

Rose, reading comprehension is your friend. The child is a domestically adopted black infant. What is so hard to understand?

Cindy, Charlize is South African, not African-American.

Me on April 6th, 2012

Why can’t people still take pics using makeup and camera techniques? She looks photoshopped to death. Not one wrinkle? Looks ridiculous.

Sandra on April 6th, 2012

Why can’t she just have a child on her own?? Find a man, get married and have a child. It’s not hard you know? Geesh!

merry on April 6th, 2012

@JM Well said, I was gonna raise the same point. Who cares where she adopted from? A baby got a home, that’s it.

fran on April 6th, 2012

Sandra, maybe she has different standards from your own regarding finding the the right man to marry & have a child with – great that it comes easily to some but like I said, we all have different standards.

JMO on April 6th, 2012

Well Sandra it doesn’t always work that way. Not every person can just go find the right man to have children with. Not everyone woman can get pregnant! She was with a man for a long time – enaged infact – and perhaps he didn’t want children which was one of the reasons they broke up. She said she always wanted a family so maybe she realized that if she waited too long to find a man and get married it would be much harder to get pregnant.

She is raising her kid and not asking for anyone’s help in doing so. Let her alone.

Alisha on April 6th, 2012

Well then have a family. No one was stopping you. If it’s really a priority in your life, you would have done it already. Why do they all adopt? Are they afraid to gain weight? Not that I’m against adoption of any child, but it seems to be the norm to adopt a black baby boy. What gives?

jones on April 6th, 2012

Wow, the people who are criticizing her for adopting rather than having a baby amaze me. How easy it is to assume everyone can naturally have children. That is not always the case. She may have tried to have children in the past and been unable and she may have choosen to adopt just because she wanted to adopt. Who cares? She is giving a child a family that likely would not otherwise have one. That is what is important, not why she adopted rather than have a child herself. Also, I love how she describes her mom. Sounds like a great women.

jones on April 6th, 2012

@Alisha, how do you know she can have a child? Many women struggle with infertility and she may be one of them. I have people in my family who struggled to get pregnant (and tried in their 20′s without luck). The assumption that every women can get pregnant is not correct. She may not be able to have children naturally or she may have choosen to adopt b/c she wanted to help a child that did not have a family. Who cares why she did it?

Jillian on April 6th, 2012

Not everyone can have children. Many people struggle with infertility. Not saying she did. Suprised you didn’ know this Alisha……. Also, why should someone have to wait to find a man or a women. We are strong individuals and should be able to raise children on our own.

not jillian

June on April 6th, 2012

Wow Sandra, “find a man, get married, have a child”. My goodness, I did not know it was that easy for you, but I don’t just want “a man” I want the “right man”. Maybe if people would stop settling for “a man” or “a woman”, the divorce rate would not be so high.

Who cares where the child is from. For all those who keep saying “there are plenty of American children, my question to you is, “How many children have you yourself adopted from the US?”

Sorry to be so harsh, but the same conversation comes up whenever there is a story about a single woman adopting or the child is internaitonal or of a different race and it just gets annoying. Let people enjoy their children, with or without “a man or a woman” or from whatever country they so choose.

Anna on April 6th, 2012

@Alisha, if I’m not mistaken, you don’t always just get to go and pick out the kid you want when you’re adopting. Here in New Jersey, you can pick a child who is in child protective services, but I don’t know what other states have that. Perhaps they all end up with black babies because there are so many black babies who are given up and need homes. Trust me, I have looked at adoption sites and the number of black children waiting to be adopted is heartbreaking! As long as they have a home with someone who is good to them and loves them, why should it matter?

Sammie on April 6th, 2012

these celebs slay me. they are always the most beautiful, most rich, have the best kids that money can buy, yada yada yada. She doesn’t want people to see her child, but she won’t shut her mouth and stay out of the news about him. can’t have it both ways when you’re in public life. One way or the other.

Tina on April 6th, 2012

One person asked why the baby is labeled an African American baby – and the answer is simple – IGNORANCE.

If the child was born with an extra large nose – one wouldn’t say “The huge nosed baby adopted by Charlize”, because that would be rude and ignorant.

Skin color is a physical characteristic ONLY and should never be used in the context to identify a person, unless it’s to make a point.

In my opinion, the writer says more about them self, than the baby.

Lisa on April 6th, 2012

Maggie, Charlize is, in fact, African-American. She was born in South Africa, and recently attained American citizenship.

Hea on April 6th, 2012

“Why can’t she just have a child on her own?? Find a man, get married and have a child. It’s not hard you know? Geesh! – Sandra on April 6th, 2012″

I for one think it’s very hard to find the right person, fall in love and have a child. I haven’t even come close in my 27 years.

Jersey Girl Epicure on April 6th, 2012

@Sandra- what an ignorant and bitchy thing to say. As several other people have pointed out, infertility, relationship issues etc could have played a factor. Congrats you found a man, got married and had children, not everyone is so lucky. Ignorance is truly eye opening.

@ Alisha- as someone adopted myself, your comment (Well then have a family. No one was stopping you. If it’s really a priority in your life, you would have done it already. Why do they all adopt? Are they afraid to gain weight? Not that I’m against adoption of any child, but it seems to be the norm to adopt a black baby boy. What gives?)

even though peppered with a half ass’d ” Not that im against adoption of any child” clearly you have issues with it. As someone else pointed out- she may not have been blessed to have children, THAT may have stopped her.. You are another disgustingly ignorant one. Why do they all adopt? They want to give a child a great life who would NEVER have close to the life they have when adopted. I think its more than admirable. Who said they get to always choose the child?

My god people remove your heads from your asses

Pamela on April 6th, 2012

It’s funny how people are criticizing her for adopting from a foreign country, but she didn’t. Charlize is South African. She adopted from her home.

Pamela on April 6th, 2012

@Sandra – are you kidding? Not everyone can have children. In fact fertility issues are rampant in this country. Give me a break!!

Melisa on April 6th, 2012

One less baby in a dumpster, drowned in the tub, abandoned on a freezing doorstep……and you are worried about the fact that the kid is African American or that she isn’t married. Idiots.

rafiki on April 6th, 2012

Typical White South African BS. There are so many black South African orphans desperate for homes but you wouldn’t catch Charlize dead trying to help her own yet it would have been quite easy actually for her to adopt a child in South Africa. I can’t stand it. You’d have to live in SA to understand the dynamics here – it’s completely pitiful how South African whites still have no heart for the black South Africans. Thank God for Oprah. This isn’t a good deed. This is total PR. That said, God Bless little baby Jackson.

Abbie on April 6th, 2012

I don’t understand what people’s problem is with adoption and where it isn’t and is acceptable to adopt a child that needs a home. Kids up for adoption are up for adoptions because they need homes. Who are you to say wether a person or couple can or can not adopt a child. People need to grow up and I hope those of you who are so high and mighty are adopting children in this country… Otherwise you are all hypocrites.

Derya on April 6th, 2012

“One less baby in a dumpster, drowned in the tub, abandoned on a freezing doorstep……and you are worried about the fact that the kid is African American or that she isn’t married. Idiots.

- Melisa on April 6th, 2012″

Exactly! Well put Melisa! Thank you.

GINGER on April 6th, 2012

Cause you know we all wanted to know his culture.

Megan on April 6th, 2012

Just because someone has men chasing after them, doesn’t mean they’re good men or good fits for her. She clearly has enough independence where she doesn’t NEED a man. People criticize actresses when they’re desperate and need a man, and then they also criticize when the actresses assert their independence and that they don’t need a man. These actresses never get a break from us as women.

Good for her that she is not settling for a man just to have one. She deserves someone awesome, and every baby deserves a home.

essie on April 6th, 2012

thank you Melisa. very well said. maybe she can have kids, maybe she can’t. maybe she wants a husband, maybe not. maybe he is black, maybe not. maybe he was received domestically, maybe not. that’s her business. maybe she doesn’t want to over-populate the world with selfishness of having her “own” baby, maybe she wants to help out kids who don’t have anyone wanting them. that’s my guess and i say good for her. i think she is a gorgeous woman with a saavy attitude. if i had her money to adopt and didn’t have to work, i’d do the same thing. kudos to her!

Leslie on April 6th, 2012

No need to say it’s negative to label the child “african-american.” The term simply describes his background and heritage.

People in the US are so incredibly race sensitive that they can make an issue out of everything pertaining to skin color… and usually it’s white people who try to profess they are color blind because it makes them feel better about themselves. By saying race or skin color doesn’t matter you are attempting to “white wash” the issue.

Race and skin color DO matter, and it’s not wrong to talk about it. By making it taboo to discuss skin color, it gives the issue a negative charge. We should all be proud of who we are and celebrate our diverse heritage.

Congrats to Charlize and her new son!

lisa on April 6th, 2012

Wishing her and her Jackson a lifetime of love and laughs and happiness……Congrats!!!

Lotus on April 6th, 2012

@ the first Lisa – Charlize is not Africa- American. Her ancestry is not African, her nationality was. In order to be African-American, your ancestry has to be African and your nationality American. The beautiful Charlize is of Dutch, German and French ancestry.

Lastly, congrats to the new mommy and her baby boy for being matched with each other.

Shannon on April 6th, 2012

This woman is not African American. lol That means something different in the United States. She is South African and American.

Anonymous on April 6th, 2012

@ Maria “Anon, because this is the first time she confirms it. I believe Us Weekly had it rumored that he was black but Charlize had not said herself. And now she has. There were also rumors that he was adopted from South Africa, so now it is clear that this was a domestic adoption.”

- Maria

How was it made clear that this was a domestic adoption? Was it the statement “African-American” or “5 month old baby boy”? African American signifies being born in Africa and coming to America. If her baby was born in America than he is just American no matter what his race is.

The statement should have read: “But while she couldn’t wait to be a mom, Theron laughs she wasn’t the only one vying for her 5-month-old baby boy.”

Anonymous on April 6th, 2012

Anonymous- It can also signify someone born to parents who were born in Africa but then moved to the States before the birth (whether before or during the pregnancy), or someone who lives in the States but whose ancestors were from Africa. Also, the media never refers to babies adopted from Africa as African American (not the respectable media, anyway. The tabs, who don’t care about accuracy, are a different matter of course!).

So it’s a pretty safe bet that if Jackson were adopted from Africa the media would be referring to him as African, not African American. In otherwords, the “African American” in the article was there to give us information about the baby’s background, information we didn’t have before.

Tt- How is she using her kid to drum up publicity? She’s simply answering questions about her new baby, just like virtually all celebs do when they’re promoting their movies. Plus, we’ve seen him exactly once…and even then all we really saw was his covered carseat. If she really wanted to use him for publicity, we would be seeing him uncovered all the time!

Anonymous on April 7th, 2012

To the first “anonymous”- I also want to ask you this: Would you be getting this up in arms if this was an announcement about some celebrity’s new Asian baby boy? Or South American baby boy?

Hea on April 7th, 2012

@ Leslie – Honestly, I do not care about color. I have friends from all over the world and it doesn’t matter what color, shape and size they have. We don’t use the term race in Sweden. We’re all the human race and the things that differ can be cultural or religious for example. I have friends whose grandparents were norwegians but they don’t go around calling themselves norwegian-swedes.

Ancestry seem so very important to so many americans which is cool and interesting. I’ve received a bunch of e-mails over the years via online forums of americans saying they’re swedes like me but they can’t speak a word of swedish and they don’t know anything about Sweden. Just that someone in their family line came from “somewhere in Sweden”.

Anonymous on April 7th, 2012

To the last “anonymous”: I absolutely would still comment if they pointed out the baby was Asian,South American,Middle Eastern or of any other nationality because I don’t think it matters what race he is. As long he is happy and healthy. And as long as she is happy. Would you be responding to my statements if the article read : “5 month old Caucasian baby boy.”? Would they even put nationality in the article if he was Caucasian-American?

To the first anonymous: I know what African-American means. My parents are both from Africa and came to America when my mother was pregnant with me. So thank you for the information but I understand fully well what “African-American” means to you. When Sandra Bullock adopted her son did anybody point out that he was “African American”? My point is: Why does his race matter? When she decides to show pictures of the baby then you will know what race he is. Then you will have all the information you need.

Leslie on April 9th, 2012

Hea, It’s one thing to treat all people the same regardless of skin color… but quite another to say it doesn’t matter.

Yes, we are all part of the human race… but we are diverse, and there is nothing wrong with noticing and appreciating our differences as well as our similarities.

Jillian on April 11th, 2012

“How was it made clear that this was a domestic adoption? Was it the statement “African-American” or “5 month old baby boy”? African American signifies being born in Africa and coming to America. If her baby was born in America than he is just American no matter what his race is.”
Anonymous

Maybe I misunderstand…..a person can most certainly be Chinese, African American or any other race and still be born in America. Being “just American” has nothing to do with this. You are talking about two different things. Her child IS African American and was born in America. This is possible. Not sure why you think it isn’t.

Mary

Anonymous on April 17th, 2012

It is a baby boy. Not every black is African American…why can’t they just be American. I am American…not Irish, Indian American. I don’t get it!

Jen on April 17th, 2012

For me, personally, as of March 1999 it was medically impossible for me to have children because, at 26 years old, barely married a year, I had to have, for severe medical reasons after a long long 6 month battle, a hysterectomy. Now, 13 years later we are going to start Foster Care to Adopt and we are, realistically, going to most likely have black children or mixed race children. Does that bother me? Not in the least. Did I try other options before the hysterectomy for fertility? Not an option back then in my case. It was a horrible experience because I was soooo young and JUST married but my husband has been (and was then too) completely supportive during the whole thing (and no comments that he was secretly hating me b/c our relationship has NEVER been like that). I HATE the fact I can’t give birth and all that comes along with it. Don’t hate on someone who adopts and, as it happens, the baby is black. You don’t know why the baby happens to be black or bi-racial. It’s between the person, celebrity or otherwise, and the adoption agency. There are way way too many people on the planet that judge celebrities and their choices about adoption. The thing we should be thanking them for is for saving a child from a life in an orphanage or a life in foster homes. We really really want to adopt kids who need a forever home. I pray our dreams come true. Just like Charlize’s.

Pegan on April 18th, 2012

I just read an article that said Charlize adopted ‘stateside’ which would mean that she adopted here in the US right? So why is everyone in such a frenzie? I was adopted and I think adpotion is a great thing. I do however agree with the person who asked why celebrities adopt from other countries. In my opinion we have so many children here in the US who need homes and it doesn’t make sense to me why celebrities don’t choose to adopt here. Of course we always focus more on feeding people in other countries then we do here in our own.

To the person who asked why celebrities don’t just give birth to their own kids instead of adopting, is it because they don’t want to gain weight. That was quite an ignorant thing to say. How many celebrities have you seen gain tons of baby weight and then loose it all like it was never there? I think that if someone decides to give a home to a child who needs one then it should be celebrated not disaproved of.