Much like her Sex and the City personality Samantha Jones, Kim Cattrall never had kids. In an interview with BBC Radio's Woman's Hour about life after 50, Cattrall answered persistent questions about why she never became a mother. Her response was definitely spot-on.
Cattrall gave motherhood a fine new meaning. Cattrall declared herself a mother even though she's never given birth or raised her own child.
"I am not a biological parent, but I am a parent. I have young actors and actresses that I mentor; I have nieces and nephews that I am very close to. ... There is a way to become a mother in this day and age that doesn't include your name on the child's birth certificate. You know, you can express that maternal side of you very, very clearly, very strongly. ... It feels very satisfying."
She added:
"I didn't change nappies, which is OK with me, but I did help my niece get through medical school. Those are very motherly things to do, very maternal things to do, very nurturing things to do. So I feel I am a mother of sorts. I am not completely child-free. Because I care about the next generation ... and that is part of what being a parent is."
It seems Cattrall is not alone in choosing not to have children. In 2014, 48 percent of women between ages 15-44 never had kids according to Upworthy. This has been the highest rate of women foregoing motherhood since 1970 when statistics began. But despite this trend, American women are still expected to have their own kids and those who refused to have one are deemed as selfish or frigid. Acknowledging that the stigma still exists in this day and age, not all was very happy with Cattrall's response.
"I know I never knew what it was to be a parent until I actually had a child. I've disciplined many people as far as kids younger than me, but that doesn't mean I was their actual parent," one father said in a report made by CBS New York.
There's been no official statement yet from the actress about the negative feedbacks she got from her response about her motherhood. But she is reportedly responding to people's comments on Twitter as Samantha Jones definitely would.
