Brad Pitt Almost Had Kids With Melissa Etheridge. Here's Why It Didn't Happen

Melissa Etheridge always knew she wanted to be a mom, but as an out lesbian since 1993, going about things the old-fashioned way wasn't an appealing option. So, when she and former long-term partner Julie Cypher decided to start a family in the late 1990s, the couple had a few options for potential sperm donors, and they were friends with several male celebs who were up to the job. 

Brad Pitt was one such option, as he and Etheridge had a solid friendship at the time. She'd even joke to friends that the "Fight Club" actor was going to be her kids' dad, telling The Post, "He was a friend of mine a long time ago. People would say, who is Brad Pitt to you? And I'd say, 'Well, he's the father of my children' or something. I would joke around."

In theory, Pitt would have been a great choice to father Etheridge and Cypher's children, but there was one thing that made the couple go in a different direction: Pitt's enthusiasm for the job.

Melissa Etheridge thought Brad Pitt would have made a great father for her kids if it wasn't for his desire to be a dad. Confused yet? In essence, Etheridge and Cypher wanted to be the sole parents of their kids, and while they would have been open with the children about who their biological dad was, they weren't looking for a third person to be involved in the family dynamic. 

However, Etheridge told The Post that her decision to go in a different direction — musician David Crosby became the couple's sperm donor — didn't negatively impact her relationship with Pitt. In fact, they remained close even after her daughter Bailey was born in 1997, with son Beckett close behind in 1998. (Beckett tragically died of an opioid overdose in 2020 at the age of 21.) "When Brad Pitt was younger, it was always clear that he wanted children. He loved children. He would come over and actually play with my kids," she said. 

In fact, Pitt did indeed go on to become a dad, welcoming daughter Shiloh and twins Vivienne and Knox with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, as well as becoming a step-father to Jolie's previous children, Maddox, Zahara, and Pax. "Kids are everything. Kids are your life. They're taking all the focus, as they should anyway," he told The AP in May 2017 (via Newsweek). Admittedly, Pitt's relationship with his kids has become tenuous in recent years, but he's never wavered in his dedication to them.

In addition to the two children Melissa Etheridge shared with Julie Cypher, after they broke up, she welcomed twins Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven with her next partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels, in 2006. While it's unclear if the couple ever approached Crosby to father the twins, Today reports that they were actually conceived via an anonymous donor. Nevertheless, she's always been open and honest with her kids about where they came from — and who their father might have been. The latter has become a lighthearted point of contention in the family, with Etheridge admitting having Brad Pitt as their dad was something the kids found very appealing. 

While the kids used to ask why she couldn't have chosen the "Meet Joe Black" star as their father, Etheridge was quick to point out how much that would have changed the trajectory of their lives. "And I'm like, 'You wouldn't have been you. What are you talking about?" she told The Post. It looks like things worked out for the best all around.