Mary J. Blige Explains Why She Doesn’t Want to Have Children, ‘I Like My Freedom’

Mary J. Blige has accomplished a lot in her 52 years of life. But having children is one milestone she has yet to experience.

While becoming a mom is a common goal for many women, the Grammy-winning singer would rather serve as an aunty than a mommy. E! Daily Pop recently asked Blige if she regretted not bringing any children into the world.

“Oh, I’m not there yet. I am not there yet so I’m good,” she said. “Listen, I have nieces and nephews forever. I’m always watching how people are scrambling around for babysitters [laughs]. I don’t wanna go through that.”

When it comes to why the “No More Drama” singer is comfortable not being a mom, she enjoys living life with no limits in comparison to her friends who do have children.

“I like my freedom. I like being able to get up and go and move and do what I want to do,” she explained.

“I don’t want to have to tend to someone all the time. Right now, that’s where I’m at. I don’t think it’s gonna happen.”

The closest Blige has gotten to being a mom was during her time married to ex-husband Kendu Issacs and serving as a stepmother to his three children Briana, Jordan, and Nasir.

“I’ve been a stepmother for three years now and I love them so much,” she told Redbook in 2007. “They would ask me questions like, ‘What do we call you?’ I said, ‘Call me Mary, call me what you want. You don’t have to call me Mommy until you’re ready.’”

It was important to Blige to make her stepchildren feel loved and not experience the trauma she did during her childhood.

“There was a lot of damage done to [my mother] by my father. I don’t want my children — my stepchildren — to see that kind of anything or to feel that kind of energy,” she shared. “I want them to always feel loved and secure.”