Gabrielle Union on not having kids yet: 'The penance for being a career woman is barrenness'

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

Gabrielle Union has recently celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary to 33-year-old NBA pro Dwyane Wade, and while the two are clearly very happy together, Union opened up about the fact that people were still upset at their decision not to have any kids together just yet.

“So far, it has not happened for us. A lot of my friends deal with this. There’s a certain amount of shame that is placed on women who have perhaps chosen a career over starting a family younger,” she told Redbook magazine. “The penance for being a career woman is barrenness. You feel like you’re wearing a scarlet letter.”

She said that part of the decision came from the fact that there is still discrimination against pregnant women in the workforce. “As much as there are strides being made — you get pregnant, your career takes a hit,” she said. “You can’t have a bad day. Don’t you dare cry at work. Don’t raise your voice. Especially if you’re a black woman in corporate America — now you’re ‘the angry black woman.'”

Union also talked about the age difference between herself and her husband.

“I realized his friends, his teammates, were conceived when I was, like, a senior in high school. I was in high school at the same time as their parents! Sometimes he’ll be like, ‘Oh, my God, he’s so old!’ about someone who’s 35,” she said. “But, Dwyane’s an old 33, and I’m a young 42, so it balances out.”