Michelle Yeoh Reflects on Feelings of Failure Regarding Childlessness

Actress Michelle Yeoh has disclosed that she experienced feelings “like such a failure” due to her inability to have a child. The Oscar winner expressed her consistent desire for a family, noting that her initial marriage to businessman Sir Dickson Poon was partly “about having children, a next generation and all that.” She underwent fertility treatment, which ultimately proved unsuccessful, as she shared with BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. Yeoh commented, “And I think the worst moment to go through is every month you feel like such a failure.” She further explained, “And then you go, why? And I think at some point you stop blaming yourself. I go, there are certain things in your body that doesn’t function in a certain way. That’s how it is.” She concluded, “You just have to let go and move on. And I think you come to a point where you have to stop blaming you.” Yeoh, aged 62, received an Oscar last year for her role in *Everything Everywhere All at Once*. Her filmography also includes notable works such as *Tomorrow Never Dies*, *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, and *Crazy Rich Asians*. She is slated to portray Madame Morrible in the upcoming cinematic adaptation of *Wicked*. Yeoh and Poon’s marriage lasted from 1988 to 1992. Yeoh stated that her inability to have children was “honestly not for the lack of trying because I have always and still do love babies.” When Woman’s Hour presenter Nuala McGovern inquired about the time it took her to accept this reality, Yeoh responded, “Sometimes, honestly, I still think about it.” She continued, “I’m 62. Of course, I’m not going to have a baby right now, but the thing is we just had a grandchild.” Yeoh added, “Then you feel you’re still very, very blessed because you do have a baby in your life.” She entered a new marriage last year, and her stepson and his wife welcomed a baby in January. Yeoh also expressed gratitude for her numerous godchildren, nieces, and nephews. Nevertheless, Yeoh acknowledged that it “took a long time” to accept not having her own biological children, suggesting this “also maybe would be the main factor that broke up my first marriage.” She elaborated, “But you also have to understand, 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. And you have to be fair.” Yeoh emphasized the critical nature of communication between partners, stating, “That’s why this dialogue between a couple is so important. Like, if one wants [a baby] and the other doesn’t, this is something you have to face right at the beginning, because along the way, there will be a lot of hurt and difficult times.” She concluded by reflecting, “And so I think it was very brave on our path to admit, to say, ‘OK, let’s not drag this out, because that’s what we are doing. Because, we tried.'” Yeoh became engaged to French motor racing executive Jean Todt in 2004, and their marriage took place in 2023.