In some ways, childbirth is the great equalizer. No matter how rich, famous, beautiful, or impossibly fit a celebrity might be, we all want the same outcome: a safe delivery for mom and baby. The real truth is that when it comes to giving birth, we all have to have to go through the pain, mess, and excitement that it entails. With this common bond, it might be tempting to think that this is one area where celebrities might avoid saying things that are controversial.
Well, we've got 15 celebrities who managed to raise some eyebrows with their way-too-candid comments on the whole miracle of birth thing. Now, it's important to note that there are different kinds of controversy when it comes to childbirth stories. There are controversies that come from people being way too TMI, ones that come from engaging in mom-shaming, ones that have some hot takes on childbirth that are just too spicy, and ones that relate to birth practices that might be seen as questionable.
Here, we've rounded up examples of all those kinds of controversies from 15 celebrities who definitely offended someone along the way.
Chrissy Teigen
Megan Fox
In an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Megan Fox shared that the pressure on actresses to look good is so intense that she started thinking about how to lose the baby weight while she was in the middle of delivering her child. As she explained, she didn't "want to lose opportunities" as a result of becoming a mom.
Kate Winslet
In an interview with Gotham, Kate Winslet described herself as "a failure" and "so completely traumatized by the fact that I hadn't given birth" because she'd delivered by C-section and not "a natural birth." The idea that a C-section somehow doesn't count as giving birth is, of course, both wrong and offensive to many women who gave birth that way.
Jessica Alba
It's always controversial when people promote the idea that if a mom does everything right, she'll have the childbirth experience she wants to have. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case, and for those who have had a more challenging birth or a birth with complications, it can feel easy to blame themselves. That's why reading things like Jessica Alba's take that "you just allow it to do what it's meant to do, and if you stay calm and open, then you'll have an easier time with birthing" can feel so triggering.
Christina Aguilera
It always raises some eyebrows when women admit that they chose to schedule a C-section, especially when they do so on the early side (37 weeks, in this case) and because they "didn't want any vaginal tearing," as Christina Aguilera revealed to People in 2008. The medical community has even received pushback for accommodating such requests from their pregnant patients.
Alicia Silverstone
Clueless actress Alicia Silverstone — who's now starring in Netflix's The Baby-Sitters Club — is no stranger to saying controversial things about bodies, babies, and childbirth, including revealing that she ingested her placenta and that she thought giving birth was "almost sexy." Childbirth is a lot of things, but sexy? That's a bit out there for a lot of folks.
Alyssa Milano
This is probably not a list that anyone would want to be on twice, but here’s Alyssa Milano again. She recently shared that giving birth was "very reminiscent of being sexually assaulted" because she didn't really "enjoy the fact that lots of people had access" to her vagina. There's a lot to unpack there.
