Eva Mendes Didn't Want To Have Kids Before Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes - The Place Beyond The Pines

Parenthood is not something to take lightly. It is a monumental undertaking that requires a wealth of patience, commitment and responsibility. As a result, some people understandably don't want to have children. That includes Eva Mendes. At least, at one point in time. The actress was hesitant to bring kids into this world. In fact, Mendes went so far as to say that, earlier in life, she didn't want to have them.

But people change, and their viewpoints are altered by the important people in their lives. Eva Mendes reworked her tune when she met her partner, Ryan Gosling. The actress has welcomed two children into this world, Esmeralda Amada Gosling (4) and Amada Lee Gosling (2), with the famous actor. And while motherhood wasn't something that was originally on Eva Mendes' mind, her perspective was revised when her relationship with Ryan Gosling grew more serious. As Mendes explained:

Ryan Gosling happened. I mean, falling in love with him. Then it made sense for me to have … not kids, but his kids. It was very specific to him.

Eva Mendes made this admission when she was profiled by Women's Magazine. In the publication, the film actress admits that a lot of things changed for her these past few years — most particularly since she began dating Ryan Gosling back in 2011 and they started raising a family not long after the fact. The stars first grew acquainted when they both worked on 2012's underrated The Place Beyond The Pines, and it was only a year-and-a-half into their relationship that they welcomed their first daughter, Esmeralda, into the world. While motherhood was once "the furthest thing" on the celebrity's mind, Eva Mendes was soon given a new outlook.

Thankfully, Eva Mendes receives support from family members to help her out.

Family. We have an amazing support group: Ryan’s mom, my mom, Ryan’s and my sisters. It’s a village that helped us. My heart goes out to women who do this alone. I basically come from a single-parent household; although I love my dad, my mom mostly raised four of us on her own.

Balancing an acting career with your responsibilities as a parent is never, ever easy. Just like parenting is never an easy feat, period. In the years since she started dating Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes hasn't been acting nearly as often. In fact, her last film role was in Lost River, the directorial debut of Ryan Gosling, back in 2014. Therefore, it sounds like parenting has become Eva Mendes' primary focus at the moment — for completely understandable reasons, of course.

While there was once a time where Eva Mendes wouldn't imagine herself raising children of her own, the actress' outlook on parenting changed completely when she fell in love with Ryan Gosling. Now, Eva Mendes has happily become a mother.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.