When you’re a celebrity, your entire life is spent in the spotlight unless you take certain measures to protect your personal privacy. Although stars often struggle with keeping their business out of the limelight, some of them have decided to protect their kids’ privacy instead. For several famous women, this means keeping the identity of their baby daddy a secret. Perhaps this is because they want their children to speak out about their story on their own terms, or maybe it’s because the father isn’t involved. Here are the celebs that decided to keep the father of their children a secret and the reasoning behind it.
1. Mindy Kaling
Nobody really knows who the father of Mindy Kaling’s children, Katherine and Spencer, is. Some people think that it may be her old friend B.J Novak, and while the rumor doesn’t bug her, she’s decided to talk to her kids about it first. In an interview with Marie Claire, she said, “I want them to be old enough to talk to me about it” and remain “super cautious” to avoid rifts in the future.
2. January Jones
Jones has her baby boy Xander in 2011, and the most information she’s shared from the start is that she was starting a journey as a single parent and that privacy would be key to her journey. The “Mad Men” actress explained to The Edit that she knew she would be raising her son alone and was mentally prepared, even excited for the process. Jones claims that she doesn’t have room for anything more in her life, and having a partner would have just made everything more complicated.
3. Lauryn Hill
In 2011, Lauryn Hill had her sixth child. A lot of people thought it was Rohan Marley’s kid since he was the dad of her other children. But given the statement she made, this was clearly not the case. While she thanked fans for their concern, her statement discussed that although she and Mr. Marley had a complicated relationship, he didn’t ever abandon her while she was pregnant and that “our 5 children remain a joy to both of us.”
4. Minnie Driver
Although Minnie Driver didn’t reveal her baby daddy for the first few years of her son Henry’s life, people found out who he was years later. In 2012, she dropped the news that the dad was a writer on “The Riches,” Timothy J. Lea. She commented that she didn’t feel the need to protect him anymore, expanding, “We weren’t together, and he wasn’t directly in the business, so I chose to protect him and not have a rain of publicity.”
5. Geri Halliwell
This Spice Girl had a daughter named Bluebell in 2006, and purposefully kept the father’s identity a secret. When asked if she was with anyone, she gave the blunt response: “ “No, and to be honest, I don’t really care.” People speculated and gossiped, but it was ultimately revealed that Sacha Gervasi, a screenwriter with whom she had an affair, was the father. On being a single mom, Halliwell said, “Obviously, we have our ideals which are much more traditional, of having both parents, but we can’t all have that.”
6. Camryn Manheim
This actress, featured on the CBS show “Living Biblically” finally spoke out on why she didn’t name her baby daddy. While people were obsessed with who the father of her son Milo was, she decided that it would be better to have her son tell his story the way he wanted to, especially since his father wasn’t often in the picture growing up. Eventually, the Disney star told the truth to Parade, outing his dad as Jeffrey Brezofar. He clarified that his parents were actually best friends that were never in a romantic relationship, but his dad was helping Camryn have the baby she so desperately wanted.
7. Bristol Palin
The daughter of Sarah Palin and supposed abstinence advocate dropped the news that she would have a baby due to her second unplanned pregnancy. Just 24 years old at the time, Palin had called off her engagement to Dakota Meyer the year before and never spoke out about her baby daddy’s identity. Based on court documents, just weeks after she gave birth, her ex filed documents claiming to be the father and requesting joint custody. Ultimately, Palin admitted that Meyer was the biological dad. The two wed after the ugly court battle, only to break up two years later.
