by
posted in Celebrities
Melissa Etheridge had the opportunity to have Brad Pitt (who has twice been named People's Sexiest Man Alive, let's not forget) as the father of her children, but ultimately decided gifting those genes to her kids wasn't the best idea for everyone.
“Well actually, he (Brad Pitt) was such a good friend of mine. And we did consider it,” the 54-year-old singer said during a recent interview. Melissa and her partner at the time, Julie Cypher, eventually welcomed Bailey and Beckett with the help of fellow musician David Crosby.
So why not Brad? Melissa explained, "I looked and I saw how badly he wanted children and I thought, ‘I don’t want to share this with someone who really, badly wants children because my children don’t need another parent — they have two.’ Of course, my teenagers now are like, ‘I could have had Brad Pitt (as my dad)!’ My son said, ‘I could’ve been amazingly handsome!’"
Melissa Etheridge went on to share she realized having someone who was already a father make the donation was the best choice.
"It’s one of the reasons why David Crosby and his wife are so perfect — because they (already) had children," she explained. "They were looking to do this as a gift. And my children are lovely and gorgeous anyway."
And of course we now know Brad Pitt has had the chance to be a father six times over. He and wife Angelina Jolie have three biological children and three they've added to their family through adoption -- and I have to wonder how he'd feel about having kids with Melissa and Julie, if they'd gone through with it, now that he's experienced fatherhood firsthand.
Personally, now that I'm a parent I'd have a harder time donating. There was a brief time in college when I considered it after coming across ads for egg and sperm donors almost daily. As a young person the money they were offering was tempting, and I didn't have overly developed feelings about children quite yet. I looked at is as helping infertile couples (which was the headline the companies always made most prominent), and not that I'd have a biological child out in the world.
Of course, if I were doing this for a friend or couple I knew I might feel entirely differently. It's hard to say if I'd go for it, but I will say I'm impressed Melissa had the forethought to consider Brad's feelings so carefully.
Photos: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock, PR Photos
Melissa later went on to welcome twins via anonymous sperm donor with Tammy Lynn Michaels. After their split, their battle over child support made headlines. A look at the singer and more stars who pay big every month:
Sherri Shepherd's strange custody battle has concluded with her bid to avoid paying child support being shot down in court.
The talk show host claimed her estranged husband, Lamar Sally, duped her into hiring a surrogate to carry a baby for them despite already planning to divorce her. The court saw it as Sherri being fully on board with the plan for the surrogate, and therefore she's responsible for the baby.
Sherri will be required to continue with the terms of their settlement, which means paying $4,100 per month until the child turns 13, and which point the amount increases to $4,600.
(PR Photos)
Marc Anthony fought back against ex-wife Dayanara Torres' 2014 request to raise the support he pays from $13,000 to $113,000. The mother of two argued their kids live in relative poverty with her compared to the lifestyle they see when they’re with their father. The singer claimed such an increase would be bad for the kids, as it would "spoil them rotten."
At the ruling Marc was ordered to increase his payments to $28,680 a month, as well as increase Dayanara's yearly vacation allowance from $6,000 to $12,000.
(PR Photos)
Sean Combs pays child support to the tune of over $40,000 to two different women.
In 2001 it was reported he was ordered to pay ex-girlfriend Kim Porter $20,000 a month for their son, Christian. This amount is in addition to a lump sum of $150,000 and agreeing to pay the child’s college tuition.
In 2005 the music mogul was taken back to court by ex-girlfriend, Misa Hylton-Brim, where she was granted an increase in child support, from $5,000 to $21,782 per month.
(PR Photos)
Britney Spears doles out $20,000 each month to Kevin Federline, who is the father of her two sons.
(PR Photos)
Russell Simmons seems to be proud to support his two daughters with ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons. In their divorce settlement, he agreed not only to pay $40,000 per month child support, but to provide a new car (valued at a minimum of $60,000) for his girls to be transported in. The car is to be replaced every three years until they reach 16, when he will them cars of their own.
(PR Photos)
Mel Gibson not only pays $20,000 per month to ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva for their daughter, Lucia, he foots the bill for their house as well. After a three year relationship the agreed share 50-50 custody of their daughter, and for the actor to pay his ex $750,000 in installments over five years.
He also allows Oksana to live in a homehe owns until Lucia turns 18, at which time the house will be sold and the proceeds given to their daughter.
(PR Photos)
Though Ben Mckenzie and Morena Baccarin welcomed their first child together in March 2016, she's still technically married to someone else! The actress is in the midst of a custody battle over her and soon-to-be-ex-husband Austin Chick's son Julian. She's currently paying $23,000 a month in support.
(PR Photos)
Eddie Murphy and Melanie Brown broke up in 2008 when she was five months pregnant. After a DNA test confirmed the actor is the father of Angel, he was ordered to pay $59,950 per month to support his daughter.
(PR Photos)
Charlie Sheen pays child support to ex wives Denise Richards (with whom he had two daughters), and Brooke Mueller (with whom he has twin boys). It was reported at one point he paid both women $55,000 a month!
Brooke's was briefly reduced to $20,000 per month when she temporarily lost custody of Bob and Max, but it has been reinstated at $55,000. Sheen has reportedly been refusing to pay Denise, arguing she spends excessively and he doesn't get to see Sam and Lola.
(PR Photos)
Billionaire dad Francois-Henri Pinault (known to many stateside as the husband of actress Salma Hayek) pays $46,000 per month to Linda Evangelista for their son Augustin's care. The $46,000 that was requested by the model covers items such as 24-hour nannies and armed drivers.
(PR Photos)
After Kelis filed for divorce from Nas when she was 7 months pregnant a child support battle ensued. Eventually the rapper was ordered by the courts to pay $40,000 per month in child and spousal support.
In 2011 it was reported that Nas’ payments were reduced to $25,000 a month.
(PR Photos)
In 2008, a judge awarded Heather Mills $48.7 million in her divorce settlement from Paul McCartney. In addition, the judge also ordered the singer to pay $70,000 yearly in child support for their daughter, Beatrice.
(PR Photos)
Anne Heche sought to have her child support payments reduced in 2008, claiming she was unable to afford paying $15,000 per month.
A Superior Court judge lowered her obligation for son Homer by 75% because she had fallen on financial hard times since the cancellation of Men in Trees.
(PR Photos)
After a nasty custody battle Halle Berry was ordered to pay ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry over $16,000 in child support for their daughter Nahla. She was also tasked with paying $115,000 retroactively, as well as to cover $300,000 of Gabriel's legal fees and pay for Nahla's schooling.
(PR Photos)
In 2012, Tammy Lynn Michaels tried to get her settlement with ex-partner Melissa Etheridge revised, claiming the $23,000 a month she was receiving wasn't enough to care for their twins.
Months later a judge ruled their settlement is valid and binding, meaning the singer must continue paying $13,000 a month in spousal support and $10,000 a month in child support. They share joint custody.
(PR Photos)
No comments:
Post a Comment