'The View' hosts defend motherhood after pop star Chappell Roan claims friends with kids 'are in hell'
"The Weekend View" hosts pushed back on pop star Chappell Roan's recent comments describing parenthood as "hell," and defended the "good parts" of motherhood on Saturday.
Roan, known for recent hits like "Pink Pony Club" and "Good Luck, Babe!," faced backlash from pro-family commentators after she suggested that all of her friends with young children are leading joyless lives.
On the "Call Her Daddy" podcast last week, Roan was asked about still being close with friends in her Midwestern hometown, acknowledging they have "very different lives."
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"All of my friends who have kids are in hell. I don’t know anyone, I actually don’t know anyone who’s happy and has children, at this age," she answered. "I have not met anyone who’s happy, anyone who has light in their eyes, anyone who’s slept."
Co-host Sara Haines argued that while parenting can be challenging at times, there are "good parts to it."
"The funny thing is it would be like, I think she is understanding the transparency that parenting is hard, but it's like telling someone about your breakup and then saying, 'I'm never dating again.' There's good parts to it," Haines said.
The co-host also noted that she's "never felt more purpose" than she does as a mother.
Co-host Sonny Hostin chimed in on the conversation, agreeing with Haines and explaining that even though it takes a lot of work to raise children, she cherishes the memories of those years.
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"I was an older mom. And the days are really long. But I will tell you, in retrospect, the years are quick. And that time period, I look back on it so fondly," Hostin explained. "I miss the ages of like five and eight. I miss almost every single thing."
Alyssa Farah Griffin expressed that while she understands where Roan is coming from, having felt a similar way when she was in her mid-20's, she's excited about becoming a mother now.
"I honestly felt exactly like Chappell Roan at her age… In my mid 20s, I wouldn't have said it as publicly. But I was like, ‘Ooh, how are they doing that? It looks miserable. They look so stressed out all the time.'" Griffin recalled. "I'm going to be an older mom, but I cannot wait to be. So it's just like, for people it may be the timing, it may not look right to them…. I don't have a single person I know who's a mom is like, 'I wish, I regret that. I wish I hadn't been a mom.' I've never met anyone like that."
While the hosts defended the satisfaction and purpose motherhood has brought them, they did acknowledge that parenting may not be for everyone, and that's okay.
Haines told the other hosts about one of her friends who has children, but in hindsight feels that she may not be "cut out for it."
"I have a friend that admitted to me she would never give back the two kids she had. She loves them dearly. But now that she knows what parenting looks like, she doesn't know if she was cut out for it. And I really respected her honesty," Haines recounted. The host agreed that parenting is "not something that should be pushed on everyone."
She concluded, "It is some freaking hard work. And if you are not really die hard, you want it more than anything in the world, maybe you'd have a better life, like if you didn't have it."
Ana Navarro noted that it's important for women not to judge one another on their decisions to start families.
"Let's try not to judge each other as women, right? If some women want to have kids early, go right ahead. If some want to have them late, great. If they want to not have kids, great. To each their own," Navarro asserted.
"The Weekend View" is a Saturday edition of the Monday to Friday ABC program.