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Actor Heather Graham has said she ‘doesn’t feel she’s missing anything’ as she defends the choice to not have any children.
Graham, 53, has enjoyed an incredibly successful career in TV and film, having starred in the likes of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Hangover, Boogie Nights and Steve Martin comedy Bowfinger.
Over the years, she has also become known for her activism, having become a public advocate for NGO Children International, through which she has supported a Filipino child called Elenie for several years.
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The actor does not have any children of her own, but doesn’t feel she’s missing out – in fact, she says elements to not being a mother that are ‘pretty great’.
She told People in a new interview: "I think we all have different paths. You just have to embrace the one that you're on. If, somehow, I had had kids, I'm sure that would've been cool.
"But at the moment, not having kids, I do feel free. And I get a lot of sleep. That is pretty great."
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Graham, who was in a relationship with Israeli screenwriter Yaniv Raz between 2011 and 2018, and also previously dated the likes of Heath Ledger, James Woods and Adam Ant, continued: "I do feel like as a woman, culturally, you're not allowed to say, 'I didn't want to have kids. Because it's like, what's wrong with you?'
"I think as a man it's like, oh yeah, cool, you didn't want to have kids. Now, women are getting more free to just make their own choices."
Graham said she believes ‘if you’re meant to have kids, you have kids’, and that if you don’t, ‘the universe gives you something or someone to nurture’.
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In her case, it’s her work, having increasingly been working behind the camera – with current plans to turn Liane Moriarty's Hypnotist's Love Story into a TV show.
"I don't feel that I'm missing anything," she went on.
"I do sometimes feel like my projects are little kids; I have started to get more involved in producing and writing and directing."
Graham admitted it is ‘hard’, but also ‘super fulfilling’, adding: "It's really exciting to want to tell a story that you really care about."
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The star said she was 'super ambitious' when she was younger, but now her most important goal is to 'enjoy life' - something she feels is 'so much more fulfilling'.
"Of course, I still am ambitious, but whenever I can really relax and get into a place of gratitude, then I feel like I really can enjoy all the good things in my life, which I have a lot," she said.
Amen, Heather!
Jess Hardiman