KUALA LUMPUR (ANN/THE STAR) – Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh opened up in a recent interview about her emotional journey regarding motherhood, expressing that she sometimes feels “like such a failure” for not being able to have children.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, the Oscar-winning actress shared her long-standing desire to start a family with her former husband, Dickson Poon. Yeoh revealed that she had pursued In vitro fertilisation (IVF) but, unfortunately, it was not successful.
“The most difficult moment is going through it every month and feeling like such a failure,” said the Ipoh-born star. “At some point, you stop blaming yourself and accept that there are things in your body that may not function in a certain way. That’s just how it is.”
Yeoh married Hong Kong businessman Poon in 1988 at the age of 28. The couple first met on the set of her debut Hong Kong film, Yes Madam, where Poon was a producer. Their marriage ended in divorce three years later.
Despite the years that have passed, Yeoh admitted that the topic still crosses her mind. “Sometimes, honestly, I still think about it,” she said. “I’m 62. Of course, I’m not going to have a baby now, but we recently welcomed a grandchild into the family. It makes you feel very blessed to have a baby in your life.”
Yeoh married her long-time partner, Jean Todt, last year. Earlier this year, Yeoh became a first-time grandmother when her stepson and his wife welcomed a baby.
In a separate interview with The Times over the weekend, Yeoh reflected on her journey, saying: “Maybe that is the biggest sadness in my life, that I cannot have kids. But the beauty is that I have six godchildren and many nephews and nieces.”
