Melissa Etheridge is opening up about her personal life, revealing that she almost let this Hollywood A-Lister father her babies. We're talking about Brad Pitt. You see Etheridge and Brad Pitt were good friends in the '90s.
As a lesbian, Etheridge was looking for a sperm donor to have children. She considered Pitt at one point, given their close friendship.
"He was a friend of mine a long time ago. People would say, who is Brad Pitt to you? And I'd say, 'Well, he's the father of my children' or something. I would joke around," Etheridge, 63, told The New York Post.
At the time, it made a certain amount of sense. Pitt loved children. "When Brad Pitt was younger, it was always clear that he wanted children. He loved children. He would come over and actually play with my kids," Etheridge said.
However, ultimately, she didn't want her donor to be someone who would want to be a father. She didn't want her donor in her children's lives. "I just knew I didn't want someone to be a donor that wanted to be a father, because they would want to be in their lives - I wanted to be the other parent, you know?" she told the outlet. "And so it just didn't work out."
Coming out as a lesbian in 1993, Etheridge had two children with her ex Julie Cypher. She also later had twins with her ex Tammy Lynn Michaels. Dave Crosby was the sperm donor for her two oldest children. Meanwhile, the donor for her youngest kids is anonymous. She said that Crosby's wife encouraged him to act as the biological father.
Melissa Etheridge On Parenting
"They had just had help having their son, and they appreciated that. They wanted to pay it forward," said Etheridge.
"He did not need to be [a father]," she added about Crosby. "And that's what really made it clear for me, was that he was willing to say, 'Yeah, I was the biological father.' And my kids call him 'bio dad,' so he's the biological father, but they didn't need a relationship with him."
Meanwhile, Etheridge said that Cypher wanted her kids to know who the biological father was since she herself was adopted. She said, "So we weren't going to go to a sperm bank, because she wanted them to know."
Meanwhile, Crosby never had any hesitation about helping Etheridge. He said, "Was there any hesitation in my mind about trying to help them? No. None. The truth is, I probably shouldn't say this, but I don't even think it should be a big deal. I think it's such a natural thing that a straight couple would do for a gay couple, if they were friends.""
