Reports recently surfaced about Meghan Markle’s baby plans. They said she was allegedly planning to raise her baby as “fluid”—meaning that she and Prince Harry would raise Baby Sussex without imposing any gender stereotypes.
The news stemmed from a Vanity Fair article in which an anonymous source said, “Meghan has been talking to some of her friends about the birth and how she and Harry plan to raise their baby. Her exact word was ‘fluid.’ She said they plan to raise their child with a fluid approach to gender and they won’t be imposing any stereotypes.”
The VF piece caused media outlets to state that the Royals were going to raise the baby “gender fluid,” which isn’t the same thing. Indeed, Kensington Palace issued a quick statement shutting down any talk of gender fluidity. “This story is totally false,” a spokesperson told Hello! a few days later.
However, it should be noted that if Prince Harry and Meghan are going to do it after the baby is born, they wouldn’t be alone.
Celebrities Raising Gender-Neutral Kids
Pink is raising her kids as gender neutral. She told The Mirror’s The Sunday People that she doesn’t want to impose traditional gender roles on her kids. She has a seven-year-old daughter named Willow and a two-year-old son named Jameson.
“We are a very label-less household,” she said, adding that she was pleased to see Willow’s kindergarten bathroom was also gender neutral. She said, “I was in a school and the bathroom outside the kindergarten said: ‘Gender Neutral — anybody,’ and it was a drawing of many different shapes.”
The late Carrie Fisher was ahead of current trends when she raised her daughter without gender. Billie Lourd, now 26, spoke out about how she was raised, saying her mother, “…raised me to not think of men and women as different. She raised me without gender. It’s kind of the reason she named me Billie. It’s not about being a strong woman — it’s about being a strong person. She once told me, ‘I never sat you down with a credo. It was more about leading by example.’”
Actress Kate Hudson revealed that she has embraced a “genderless approach” to raising her baby daughter Rani as well as her 15-year-old son Ryder and seven-year-old son Bingham. She said, “Having a daughter doesn’t really change my approach, but there’s definitely a difference. I think you just raise your kids individually regardless — like a genderless [approach]. We still don’t know what she’s going to identify as.”
Adele is another celeb who refuses to impose gender stereotypes on her son. In fact, in a recent outing to Disneyland, her six-year-old wore a Princess Anna costume. Adele told Time, “I can’t wait to know who his best friends are going to be, who his girlfriend or his boyfriend is going to be or what movies he likes. Whatever my kid wants to do or be I will always support him no matter what.”
And finally, comedian and actor Russel Brand once made news for his blasé approach to gender during an appearance on The Jonathon Ross Show before his daughter Mabel was born. He said, “I may not even impose a gender upon it, let the child grow up and be whatever the hell it is.” Mabel was born in 2016 to Brand and his wife Laura Gallacher. After her birth, he maintained the same position and told This Morning, “I have re-evaluated the way that I unconsciously looked at gender, because now I’ve got a daughter I think ‘wow, I don’t necessarily need to dress her in clothes that are indicative of her gender. Why would you? I’ve become quite sensitive to that and aware of it.”
Meghan Markle Baby Plan – Sources
Vanity Fair
The Mirror – Pink! interview
Teen Vogue – Billie Lourd interview
Entertainment Tonight – Kate Hudson interview
Time – Adele interview