{"id":2103711,"date":"2026-08-20T23:07:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T20:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2103711"},"modified":"2026-08-20T23:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T20:07:45","slug":"mary-j-blige-opens-up-about-choosing-not-to-have-any-children-i-saw-a-lot-of-people-struggling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2103711","title":{"rendered":"Mary J. Blige Opens Up About Choosing Not to Have Any Children: \u2018I Saw a Lot of People Struggling\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tMary J. Blige\u2019s musical influence birthed plenty of R&B artists in the \u201990s and into the turn of the century, but the R&B icon opened up about not having any biological children of her own. <\/p>\n

\n\tBlige joined Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson\u2019s IMO <\/em>podcast on Wednesday, where she reflected on her decision to not have kids.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tMary J. Blige Talks \u2018Be Happy\u2019 Movie, Vegas Residency & Bad Bunny\u2019s Super Bowl Performance: \u2018Timing Is Everything\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tMary J. Blige Recalls \u2018Monster\u2019 Jay-Z Collaboration Being Shelved Over Leak: \u2018He Felt Disrespected\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Be Happy\u2019: Mary J. Blige\u2019s Movie Is Coming to Lifetime \u2014 Here\u2019s How to Stream It Online for\u00a0Free\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cI saw a lot of people struggling,\u201d the 55-year-old began. \u201cI see a lot, you know, my family members needing babysitters and them not having a choice, no freedom. So when you\u2019re younger, those are the words you make, those are the choices you make. I don\u2019t want any kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe \u201cReal Love\u201d singer also revealed how she\u2019s had some regret about being kidless as she\u2019s gotten older, but is ultimately happy with the life she\u2019s built. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen you get older, you start to see how valuable their teenagers are to them [and] their kids are to them. \u2026 Sometimes I\u2019m lonely, but I\u2019m alone a lot. I\u2019m in my home, but we have a good time. We have a good time. I make sure we have a good time,\u201d she said. \u201cWe by ourselves, we watching movies, I be trying on clothes, I be watching movies. I accept it; it is what it is. I\u2019m not trying to have company and friends; it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMichelle Obama spoke about women feeling pressure to have children as a duty in life. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a mother. That doesn\u2019t make you whole,\u201d the former first lady said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not a whole person, a child will not do that for you. It won\u2019t complete you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Yonkers native married producer Kendu Isaacs in 2003 but filed for divorce in 2016. Blige and Isaacs ultimately settled the tumultuous split in 2018.<\/p>\n

\n\tMary J. Blige is currently preparing for another run in Las Vegas as part of her My Life, My Story residency, which picks back up in Sin City on Oct. 23. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Queen of Hip-Hop Soul\u2019s last album arrived in 2024 with Gratitude<\/em>. She popped out as a guest earlier in August at Chris Brown and Usher\u2019s R&B Tour stop in New Jersey. <\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the full Mary J. Blige interview below. Talk about motherhood takes place around the 45-minute mark.<\/p>\n

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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rb-hip-hop\/mary-j-blige-children-interview-michelle-obama-1236321422\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2259973684-e1787261061865.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Mary J. Blige\u2019s musical influence birthed plenty of R&B artists in the \u201990s and into the turn of the century, but the R&B icon opened up about not having any biological children of her own. Blige joined Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson\u2019s IMO podcast on Wednesday, where she reflected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2103711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2103711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2103711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2103711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2103711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2103711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2103711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}