Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Adele was 'too scared' to have another baby after postnatal depression battle

The singer first made the revelations in a 2016 interview

adele
Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
Share this:

Singer Adele is currently wowing fans with her new album 30, however, in a recent interview with author Candice Carty-Williams for The Face, she spoke about a difficult period in her life.

MORE: Adele: Everything you need to know about her family life

Adele welcomed her son Angelo, now aged nine, in 2012 with former husband Simon Konecki - and like many mums, suffered from postnatal depression.

WATCH: Adele sings new son Hold On in Amazon's Christmas Campaign for 2021

The star said: "Giving, giving, giving, to a baby or a toddler, when they can't even [expletive] talk to you, your brain goes a bit mushy. You're not stimulated very much. In that, I also got really quite bad postpartum depression, or postnatal as we call it [in the UK]."

She added: "Having no time to even brush my teeth, let alone write a record or hang out with my friends. My friends, my hobbies, the things I like doing without a baby, are things that make me who I am. And I didn't really have access to that for a while."

Now her son is older, Adele said, life is much easier, explaining: "It's way easier to navigate once you can really communicate with them."

MORE: Adele shares first details about battle with chronic pain

READ: Adele reveals son Angelo's reaction to divorce from husband Simon 'broke my heart'

adele simon

The star pictured with partner Simon Konecki in 2013

In a 2016 interview with Vanity Fair, Adele went into more depth about her postnatal depression, revealing that at the time she felt like she had made "the worst decision" of her life, and admitted that she was now "too scared" to have another baby.

Adele told the magazine: "My knowledge of postpartum, or postnatal, as we call it in England, is that you don't want to be with your child; you're worried you might hurt your child; you're worried you weren't doing a good job. But I was obsessed with my child.

"I felt very inadequate; I felt like I'd made the worst decision of my life… It came in many different forms.

"Eventually I just said, I'm going to give myself an afternoon a week, just to do whatever I want without my baby. A friend of mine said, 'Really? Don't you feel bad?' I said, 'I do, but not as bad as I'd feel if I didn't do it.'"

adele grammys

Adele wins at the Grammys

The star continued: "I think it's the bravest thing not to have a child; all my friends and I felt pressurised into having kids, because that's what adults do.

"I love my son more than anything, but on a daily basis, if I have a minute or two, I wish I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Every single day I feel like that."

Asked at the time whether she was considering having a second child with her then-partner, she replied: "I'm too scared. I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me."

adele singing

Adele has received rave reviews for her new album

Adele also spoke about mum-guilt, saying: "I'm enjoying touring, but at times I feel guilty because I'm doing this massive tour, and even though my son is with me all the time, on certain nights I can't put him to bed."

"I never feel guilty when I'm not working. You're constantly trying to make up for stuff when you are a mum. I don't mind because of the love I feel for him… I don't care if I don't ever get to do anything for myself again."

Make sure you never miss a ROYAL story! Sign up to our newsletter to get all of our celebrity, royal and lifestyle news delivered directly to your inbox.

More Parenting

See more