Judith Light Opens Up About Her Decision Not To Have Children: “You’ve Got To Do What Works For You”
Judith Light recently shared her personal decision to not have children. Speaking to PEOPLE about her role in the Apple TV+ supernatural drama Before, the 75-year-old star reflected on her journey with her husband of nearly 40 years, Robert Desiderio, and their choice to focus on their relationship rather than parenthood.
Judith, who married Robert in 1985, explained that while the couple once considered adoption, they ultimately decided it wasn’t the right path for them. “I’m an only child, and Robert is an only child from a first marriage. His biological mother died when he was about 2½,” she shared, adding that her own family dynamics shaped her view of life without children.
“But when I was growing up, my mother had an older sister. My mother’s a twin. She had an older sister and her older sister and her husband never had children. I had a role model for what it was like to have a life without children,” she recalled.
While they chose not to have kids, Judith emphasized that she and Robert still have a deep connection with children in their circle, including the families of close friends like America Ferrera and Ana Ortiz. According to her, she and her husband “have children in our world which we love and adore.”
The decision to remain child-free wasn’t taken lightly. Both Judith and Robert were busy with their careers at the time, and they felt it wouldn’t have been fair to a child. As she recounted, “And we also said to each other, because we were both working at the time, and we said, ‘Wait a minute. This isn’t going to be fair to a child,’ ” Light remembers. “And I kept asking my Aunt Jean and Uncle Barnett. I said, ‘Were you okay with this?’ And they said, ‘Yes, we’re very okay with this.’ And so, I knew somewhere that it could be okay.”
Although they contemplated adoption, Judith explained that it was always an option they remained open to rather than a closed door. “It wasn’t a closure. It wasn’t an ending. It was really a way of life for us and the way we were relating to ourselves and the life we were choosing at that time and the way we felt worked for us. You’ve got to do what works for you,” she stated.
