Demi Moore has an incredibly close connection to her family, but most notably to her three adult daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Willis.
The 62-year-old Oscar nominee shares her three girls with ex-husband Bruce Willis, and together they're also grandparents to Louetta Isley "Lou" Thomas Willis, who turned two years old just days ago.
Demi spoke with People for their new World's Most Beautiful issue about the physical and spiritual experience of giving birth and being a mother, and the joys of being able to pass that down to Rumer, 36.
© Getty ImagesDemi as a mom
"Giving birth is one of the only times that you can 100 percent know that pain is bringing you a gift," she told the publication. "And when you can apply that to other things, you start to see that that is a truth of all things that are difficult."
Demi also spoke about being present for her granddaughter's birth. Rumer chose to go with a home birth for Lou, and not only did she have her mom by her side, but also her two younger sisters. Rumer shares her toddler with her ex Derek Richard Thomas, a musician. They announced their breakup last year.
Rumer's home birth
"It was really incredible," the Ghost star recalled. "Rumer was at Scout's birth; Scout and Rumer were at Tallulah's birth."
© InstagramShe candidly shared the point at which she hauntingly wondered whether her oldest was strong enough to endure it all, though. "Rumer had a home birth, and there was a moment when I thought, 'Oh boy, I don't know if she's going to make it,' like she has a different pain threshold than I do."
Things all turned out for the best, however. "To just see her move into her own power and focus, it was a really extraordinary, beautiful moment."
© Getty ImagesThe actress, who gained renewed prominence over the past few months for her celebrated turn in The Substance (with her family by her side), also spoke about her relationship with her mother, who struggled with alcoholism, affecting how she responded as a parent herself.
Bittersweet parenting
"For many, many years that was really about not wanting my kids to ever experience certain things that I had," Demi explained. "It created a real drive in me to want to look for opportunities to transform and become the best version of myself."
© Getty Images"One of the beautiful revelations was: How could I expect my children to have compassion for me if I didn't have compassion for my own mother?" That moved her to look at her relationship with her mother with more compassion and let that growth impact her daughters, too. Check out a glimpse of Rumer's life as a mom below...
"I really then moved into the beauty and the innocence of the soul that came into this world, that in no way had a desire to be neglectful or less than nurturing," she continued. "And I think I had a pendulum swing where I didn't want to burden my children, I never let them see me emotional."
"I really see now how important that is for our children to see us sad and see that we walk through it and get to the other side. It's okay to be angry and move through it. There's a lot I've learned and some I wish I had figured out sooner, but I also trust that it all happens in its right time."
