12 Powerful Women Over 40, Child-Free by Choice And Living Their Best Lives - Page 7

7. Oprah Winfrey, 71

Having kids and getting married is not something Oprah Winfrey wanted to commit to. She was engaged to her longtime partner Stedman Graham in 1992 but they called it off the very next year. They’ve remained a couple but never went through with getting married because Winfrey knew the traditional idea of marriage was something she did not want. She also knew pursuing motherhood was out of the question.  Her busy work life being a talk show host helped her realize that when she saw “the depth of responsibility and sacrifice that is actually required to be a mother.”

In a 2019 interview with People, she said, “I realized, ‘Whoa, I’m talking to a lot of messed-up people, and they are messed up because they had mothers and fathers who were not aware of how serious that job is.’ I don’t have the ability to compartmentalize the way I see other women do. It is why, throughout my years, I have had the highest regard for women who choose to be at home [with] their kids, because I don’t know how you do that all day long. Nobody gives women the credit they deserve.”