Why Kim Cattrall Decided Not To Have Children
Kim Cattrall's iconic "Sex and the City" character Samantha Jones wouldn't be caught dead changing a baby's diaper. But when it came to real life, Cattrall, who doesn't have any kids of her own, did consider becoming a mother for quite some time. However, she ultimately decided not to, refusing to conform to societal pressures.
In an interview with O, The Oprah Magazine in 2003, Cattrall said "When I was five, my fantasy was to have a hundred dogs and a hundred kids." But when the Liverpool-born actress was in her mid to late 30s and in her prime fertility-wise, she wasn't sure what to do. She had already been married and divorced twice at this point and admitted to "feeling both the social pressures and my own biological clock ticking." Cattrall looked into sperm banks but was overwhelmed by the multitude of donor options. "I could construct any number of possible physical combinations for my child...except for her to be the product of a union with someone I loved," she said.
Ultimately, Cattrall ruled out having kids as it didn't feel natural to her. She told the magazine, "I realized that so much of the pressure I was feeling was from outside sources, and I knew I wasn't ready to take that step into motherhood."
Kim Cattrall's career may have also contributed to her decision to not have kids
While Kim Cattrall ultimately decided motherhood wasn't for her, it seems that not having a romantic partner at the right time in her life did play a role in her decision. Prior to dating her current boyfriend Russell Thomas, who she's been with since 2016, Cattrall has had a long list of ex lovers. She first married Canadian writer Larry Davis in 1977, only to split two years later. Cattrall then married German architect Andre J. Lyson in 1982 and ended up moving to Frankfurt where she learned the language, but took trips back to America for work. They divorced in 1989 after seven years together, leaving Cattrall single in her early 30s.
Nine years later, she got re-married to music engineer Mark Levinson. But by this point, Cattrall was already in her early forties and had just gotten her big break being cast in "Sex and the City." The actor explained on the "Women's Prize For Fiction" podcast in 2020, "This was 1998, I would have to become a bit of a science experiment. ... My partner and I would have to be available to have sex at a certain time. ... There's just no way I could have done that in a healthy, emotional, physical, or even physical state, and do 19-hour days." Not to mention that things eventually went awry in their marriage and they divorced in 2004.
Kim Cattrall has found other ways to tap into motherhood
Just because Kim Cattrall never had children, it doesn't mean she hasn't experienced what it's like to be a parent. On Instagram, Cattrall is always sharing photos with her nieces and nephews and godchildren, including her godson Theo (pictured above).
"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," she said in an interview with Woman's Hour in 2015 (via The Guardian). The "How I Met Your Father" star went on to explain that she helped get her niece through medical school and was there for her nephew as he contemplated joining the army. "Those are very motherly things to do, very nurturing things to do," she said.
Cattrall further told O, The Oprah Magazine that throughout her career, she's had ample opportunities to get in touch with her maternal side like "when a young actress comes to me for advice about her career, or when I give a talk at a school, babysit my friends' kids, or work with children's charities or organizations." Unlike Samantha Jones, Cattrall has made it clear in multiple interviews that she loves children, but it just wasn't in the cards for her to become a mother.