Brooke Shields’ interview with Life Magazine
Brooke Shields appears on the cover of the April issue of Life Magazine. Brooke, who poses with her daughters, Rowan Francis Henchy, 3 1/2, and Grier Hammond Henchy, 11 months, talks of the issues of the past that she has overcome for example, her postpartum depression with Rowan – and her hopes for the future.
Brooke has had an excellent career, from modeling to Broadway, to motherhood and beyond. She is open about her use of in vitro fertilization to conceive her first daughter, Rowan, and about the postpartum depression (PPD) she endured following the birth, which led to her book, Down Came the Rain; My Journey Through Postpartum Depression (from $7 at Amazon.com). Brooke has been through much personally, as well as professionally and as a mother;
I look back at myself, this innocent person, and I think, Gosh, she’s okay. I handled a lot, and I’m still here.
Brooke was brutally honest in her book. We have always wondered and were never entirely sure if she suffered from PPD after the birth of Grier;
No [I didn't]. I didn’t have IVF, either. I went in to start IVF, and I was already pregnant. All our jaws dropped. So biochemically I was in a different spot. But if it had come back, I would have been prepared; I wouldn’t have been blindsided.
What does that period feel like now that she looks back on it?
Depression is so smart—it uses all your references and patterns. [With motherhood] I felt like I was getting F’s across the board. It was all so clear: [Rowan] wasn’t going to love me, I had to go away and not come back.
The medication did work and the depression no longer remains;
I’ve become more of who I am. Someone said adversity builds character, but someone else said adversity reveals character. I’m pleasantly surprised with my resilience. I persevere, and not just blindly. I take the best, get rid of the rest, and move on, realizing that you can make a choice to take the good.
Continue reading for the rest of the interview – more on loving her children, even after PPD, the Tom Cruise scandal, Grier’s connection to Suri Cruise, what her girls are like (can you guess who is the quick wit and who is the ‘off with the fairies’ one?) and post-baby body issues.
Brooke tells us that people have misconceptions about depression. Just because you had PPD doesn’t mean you don’t love your children and Brooke has learnt that now;
I do think, ‘How is Rowan going to feel when she reads this?’ I had to make it clear it had nothing to do with her. For a long time I went around saying “I love my children!” As if I had to prove it to people. But I’m too tired to keep doing that.
And the Tom Cruise scandal?
I’ve known Tom since I was 15; he was in Endless Love. I don’t think I let anyone down by reconciling [with him]. I never changed my beliefs. I stand by what I wrote.So when Kate [Holmes, Cruise’s wife] called me herself to invite us to the wedding, it would have felt like a slap to say no. Our daughters were born the same day in the same hospital, so they’re connected too.
And what are Rowan and Grier like?
Rowan has a sharp wit. She came out looking like a shark—she cased the joint. And Grier came out like “La-la-la!” with little fairies flying around her head. But I’m careful to not label them, because I don’t want to set them up as [those people]. But 24/7 with the kids? I don’t know how people do it. If my main job was just to be with the two of them, I would not be as effective. I would be short-tempered; I would be less appreciative. Like when they tell you how to play: “Be the princess, but not like that. Say this. No, say it this way.” After a while I’m like, “I don’t even have directors do that to me!” Some people just revel in it, and that’s beautiful. I revel in a different way.
On her post-baby body.
The truth is, I like my body more when it’s thinner. I have a range of jeans, and I’m happier in the smaller ones. But I don’t have the same drive to get into those jeans. I’m not going to change my day to get there, whereas I used to.
- Posted on Mar 22, 07 at 4:31AM
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- 10 Comments
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:51 am
What a beautiful picture of Brooke and her girls – I love photos in black and white it gives them a whole different ‘look’!
I think Brooke has been so brave to talk about her personal problems so openly, which I am sure helped many other women in the same situation.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:50 am
Let me preface this by saying I like Brooke and I was behind her 100% during the whole Tom Cruise against postpartum drugs issue but if Angelina Jolie or Britney Spears made the next comment
“24/7 with the kids? I don’t know how people do it. If my main job was just to be with the two of them, I would not be as effective. I would be short-tempered; I would be less appreciative. Some people just revel in it, and that’s beautiful. I revel in a different way.”
it would be getting slammed left and right in the comments section. The thing is I agree with her comment 100% and I would have agreed with it if ANY other mom said it. But I think it would have been funny to substitute Brooke’s name for Angelina’s or even Britney’s to see how people would respond.
March 22nd, 2007 at 1:25 pm
I really respect Brooke for being so honest.
And while I agree with you Tina about the double standards in the comments section I think the Britney has earned a lot of the contempt people have for her from the times when she put their lives at risk. I’m not saying that justifies people picking apart every little thing she does, but when it comes to safety issues I think everyone has a right to be upset.
March 22nd, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Oh trust me, Tina-I know this site, and the comments are coming. They just haven’t arrived yet. The minute I read that quote I thought, “Oh, she is gonna get RIPPED.” I completely agree with her and, like you, I would agree with any mother who may have said it, regardless of what I thought of them personally.
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
I am not going to judge Brooke, I know as a mother, all children evoke different feelings in you and there not one formula for parent hood. I think people judge her differently from Angelina and Britney because they all have different histories and backgrounds. I was on Tom’s side about Anti-depressants because my young brother was addicted to them and they eventually ended his life, (he committed suicide). My problem was that Tom gave Brooke as an example which was wrong. He should have talked to her in person. Up to today, I believe anti-depressants and going to kill all of us and wreck our lives while someone is making money from them. They are as bad as heroin or marijuana only worse because they deceive us into thinking they are O.K. I am glad brooke is fine now but those drugs need tougher regulation and should not be the quick fix for every one. Depression sometimes is a natural sign from our bodies that something is wrong and we need to deal with what is wrong not try to mask it with drugs!
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Lila I see where your coming from. But how do you try to deal with someone trying to kill themselves on a regular basis? If there are ways to help besides using AD’s, you know ways that are effective. I would like to know because so many lives would be saved. I’m not a fan of shrinks and I hate meds. But don’t you think some people really do need them? I’m sorry for what happened to your brother. What about the people who have the “Chemical” depression opposed to just depression. Can they help it? can some one really make that big of a difference in their lives that it will go away, and it wont go on for generations? I think what Brooke said is very real she is not trying to mask it, it is how she feels. Britney spears for example, and this is just my opinion jumped into the married family life so fast. She was still so young. And it really seemed like she wasn’t the type of person to just settle with giving up what she really likes to do. I mean look at what happened afterwards. I’m not saying she regrets her kids but if she could do it again would she get married and have children? After I had my son I thought I was going to be a horrible mom. I was so overwhelmed I thought I was going to do something wrong. Don’t get me wrong I loved my son when he was first born, and still do with all my heart. I thought to myself that all I had to do was be myself. I’m a caring person, I treat others well. I would give up everything for someone I really loved. I directed that all towards my son, because I have never felt so sure about anything in my entire life.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Lila, I’m so sorry to hear about your brother — what a horrible tragedy! I do wonder, though, what your basis is for thinking that anti-depressants are addictive and worse than “heroin or marijuana.” Do you have any research to back that up, or is it just your gut instinct based on the terrible experience with your brother? IME, anti-depressants can be a most useful tool in relieving acute depressive symptoms so that the person *can* deal with whatever they need to. Truly depressed people aren’t clear thinkers, nor do they have much energy left over after battling their demons day in and out. Again, I’m so sorry about your brother, but it would be a shame if other depressed people who could benefit from medical intervention were scared off by a fear of “addiction.” Depression is a generally treatable disease with a relatively high mortality rate, so it’s important to seek treatment. Best wishes.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:25 pm
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LOL What she says about kids telling you how to play is SO true! Love it!!
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:12 am
Maddie and Tina, I couldn’t agree more. If this were Angelina Jolie (even Briteny would get a pass) my God the outcry would be heard around the world. Seal said something about parents needing to place their relationship first for the purpose of being the best for the kids (of which I agree with him just as I do with Brooke) anyway, that one came and went without a peep, but had it been Angelina? we’d still be rumbling about it lol.
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:40 pm
It IS okay to be a mother, a good mother, who isn’t always with her children 24/7. I think having other interests makes a woman more interesting and interested.