upworthy

childfree

Seth Rogen on stage during the opening night of Collision 2019 at Enercare Center in Toronto, Canada.

Breaking news: There's a big double standard in Hollywood. Childless women in the public eye are often plagued by the question: “So, why don’t you have any children?” It’s a deeply personal question that cuts right to the bone, and there can be many answers. But, if the woman doesn’t want children and says so publicly, she is bound to face some judgment.

"[I don't] like [the pressure] that people put on me, on women—that you've failed yourself as a female because you haven't procreated. I don't think it's fair," Jennifer Aniston told Allure. "You may not have a child come out of your vagina, but that doesn't mean you aren't mothering—dogs, friends, friends' children."

On the Monday, March 6 episode of “The Diary Of A CEO” podcast, host Steven Bartlett asked actor Seth Rogen why he’s childless, and it was a rare moment where a man in the public eye was challenged on the topic. Rogen gave a thoughtful explanation for his and Lauren Miller’s decision to be child-free.

Rogen and Miller were married in 2011.

seth rogen, seth rogen kids, set rogen comicon, set rogen wife, seth rogen family, actors Seth Rogen speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Preacher", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

“There's a whole huge thing I'm not doing, which is raising children,” Rogen told Bartlett. The host attempted to play devil’s advocate and asked Rogen if he considered whether having children might have made him and his wife “happier.”

“I don't think it would,” Rogen responded.

Then, as if anticipating the question, the “Pineapple Express” star upended one of the arguments that people who have children often make: that people who don’t have children have no idea what it’s like.

“I've been around obviously a lot of children; I'm not ignorant to what it’s like…Everyone I know has kids. I'm 40, you know? I know,” Rogen said. “Some of my friends have had kids for decades. Some people want kids, some people don't want kids.” He added that many people seem to have kids without considering the issue.

“I mean, a lot of people have kids before they even think about it, from what I've seen, honestly,” he said. “You just are told, you go through life, you get married, you have kids—it’s what happens.” Rogen and his wife have only grown stronger in their decision and they believe that it has helped their relationship.

“Now, more than anything, the conversation is like, ‘Honestly, thank God we don’t have children,’” he continued. “We get to do whatever we want. We are in the prime of our lives. We are smarter than we've ever been, we understand ourselves more than we ever have, we have the capacity to achieve a level of work and a level of communication and care for one another, and a lifestyle we can live with one another that we've never been able to live before. And we can just do that, and we don't have to raise a child—which the world does not need right now,” Rogen concluded.

lauren miller, seth rogen, lauren miller husband, seth rogen wife, childfree, golden globes Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller at the 69th Annual Gold Gen Globes Awards.via JDeeringDavis/Wikimedia Commons

Rogen received a lot of pushback for his comments, and two years later, in an interview with Esquire, he addressed the criticism and doubled down on his decision. “People really had strong takes on it, being like, ‘F**k this f**king guy,'" he said. “Well, if you hate me that much, why do you want more of me?” He also addressed those who asked, "Who's going to care for you when you get older?"

“Is that why you’re having kids? Because I have two things to say: One, that’s very selfish to create a human so someone can take care of you. And two, just because you have a kid, I hate to break it to you, that doesn’t mean they’re going to do that,” he said.

Everyone has the right to choose whether or not to have children, and no one has the right to judge them. Rogen and Miller have thought their decision through and should be applauded for living how they see fit. It’s cool to see Rogen with such a thoughtful opinion on the matter. It’d be even cooler if celebrities never had to discuss the topic in the first place.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

Family

Mom of 6 has hilarious answer to the question: 'Why do you have so many kids?'

People just can't believe she would have them simply because she wants to.

Unremarkable Files/Youtube

Why. So. Many?

Jenny Evans is a mom to six kids. And, yes, she knows that's a lot.

That doesn't stop people from asking her, though. The kinds of comments she gets from friends and even from complete strangers would have you thinking she hadn't actually thought this whole "six kids" thing through.

"One of the questions I get asked constantly as a mom of six is 'Why do you have so many kids?'" she says.


Surveys show that the average American thinks two or three kids is ideal. So six seems to absolutely blow people's minds, and they feel compelled — nay, entitled — to receive an explanation. Evans is sick of it.

In a hilarious video posted to her Facebook page, Evans tackles the absurd question with the, uh, thoughtfulness it deserves.

In the video, which has since gone viral, Evans feigns a moment of realization: "That's a good question. Why do I have so many kids?"

She then launches into a tirade of satirical answers she might offer well-meaning strangers who ask her about the size of her family.

At the very end of the video, Evans briefly touches on the reason she has six kids. The real reason, that is.

"It's because I like them," she says in the clip.

"We never had 'a number' or consciously decided we were going to have a big family, but simply made room for one more whenever we felt like we could," Evans told ABC News. "Having a new baby join the family and watching everyone's relationships with everyone else grow is the most amazing thing. I just never get tired of that."

Americans are actually having fewer kids overall these days, so concern about over-population and resources is wasted on questioning one individual family's choices. Besides, we shouldn't judge, shame, or question people who have lots of kids while simultaneously stigmatizing people who choose not to.

Evans' video is simply a fun reminder to live and let live. Having no kids is fine. Having six kids is fine. So is seven or eight or however many you choose to — or not to — have.

At the end of the day, it's as simple as this: How you choose to build or define your own family isn't a choice you should have to defend.

Check out the rest of Evans' hilarious responses (all of them!) in the video below:


This article originally appeared on 10.25.17