Michelle Yeoh on her infertility journey, why she feels 'very blessed' in life
"I think you come to a point where you just have to stop blaming you."
Michelle Yeoh is opening up about her infertility journey.
The Oscar-winning actress appeared on the BBC's "Woman's Hour" podcast on Nov. 18 and discussed her desire to have children and how she learned to live with no regrets when children weren't a possibility.
"I always wanted to have children," Yeoh said. "It didn't happen, so I went and did fertility [treatments] to aid in the process. And I think that that's the worst moment to go through ... every month you feel like such a failure."
"And I think at some point, you stop blaming yourself and go, you know, 'There are certain things in your body that doesn't function in a certain way. That's how it is,'" she continued. "You just have to let go and move on. And I think you come to a point where you just have to stop blaming you."
Yeoh said not being able to have children was "the main factor" in her divorce from her first husband, Hong Kong entrepreneur Dickson Poon. The two were married from 1988 to 1992.
"These are conversations that you really have to have with yourself and be able to look ahead and think, 'Yes, we love each other very much now, but in 10 years or 20 years, I still can't give him the family that he craves for,'" she explained. "And you have to be fair. That's why this dialogue between a couple is so important."
Yeoh married her second husband, former Ferrari CEO Jean Todt, in July 2023 after a nearly two-decade engagement. They welcomed a grandson, whom Yeoh called "a little miracle," on New Year's Day 2024.
The "Everything Everywhere All at Once" alum said having a grandchild makes her feel that she's "still very, very blessed, because you do have a baby in your life."
In a separate interview with The Sunday Times published Nov. 17, Yeoh said not being able to have kids is "the biggest sadness in my life," but said she dwells on the "beauty" of having six godchildren, as well as many nephews and nieces.
"I don't live with regrets because I have always given it my 110 percent. I did everything to make it work, and sometimes even that is not enough," she said.
She added, "You have to learn to let go, and sometimes letting go helps you move forward."