Katherine Heigl changed her mind about having more kids because of the pandemic

Katherine Heigl says the pandemic has changed her plans for growing her family.

In an interview with Parents, the Firefly Lane star opened up about parenting her three children through the past year—and whether she plans to have another baby.

“Before the pandemic, I thought that we needed one more child to complete this home,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if we would go the foster care route or adoption or maybe another pregnancy. But now I have completely changed my mind. I am very content with my three!”

Heigl is far from alone. A new study suggests that one-third of would-be-mothers are delaying pregnancy because of the pandemic. It’s a scary time to decide whether you’re ready for another baby—even for a celebrity.

Heigl has been married to musician Josh Kelley for 13 years. They have three children together: Naleigh, 12, Adalaide, 8, and Joshua, 5.

For the past year, the family has hunkered down on their Utah ranch.

“This is the longest period I have consistently spent with my children,” Heigl said. “At first I loved cooking inspired meals, but now I’m like, ‘Kids, just make yourself a sandwich.'”

After nearly a year of pandemic parenting, we feel that.

Heigl also opened up about how she and her husband field questions from their daughters about their birth stories. Both girls are adopted and Heigl says as they get older, they’re more curious about where they came from.

“We have said to them, this is your story,” she said. “We don’t have any information about your biological fathers, but we do have a bit about your biological mothers. If you guys want to talk more about them, you can have as much or as little information as you want. Tell us what you’re comfortable with knowing.”

Heigl says she was “raised with adoption,” since her sister, Meg, was adopted from South Korea. Heigl says she grew up believing that love and family can transcend hate—but she didn’t really understand her sister’s experience until they were older.

“When I asked my sister, Meg, if she had been treated one way when she was out in public with our parents and a different way when she was out by herself without them, she said, ‘Oh yeah, all the time!’ That made me realize that I had been so naïve,” the actress said.

“At first, I got very angry. But I had to calm down and realize, okay, this isn’t about how it makes me feel. It’s about how I need to protect my daughters and prepare them for the world, because I can’t change society in one fell swoop.”

We appreciate Heigl’s honesty here. When it comes to raising our children, we all want the best for them. That often includes confronting our own limitations and doing the work to make sure our kids feel understood and protected.