Oprah Winfrey, one of the richest and most successful women in the world, is not only known for her work in Hollywood and philanthropic efforts, but for eschewing the traditions of marriage and motherhood.
"If I had kids, my kids would hate me," the media mogul told The Hollywood Reporter in its new issue. "They would have ended up on the equivalent of the Oprah show talking about me; because something [in my life] would have had to suffer and it would've probably been them."
Though she has been in a relationship with businessman Stedman Graham since 1986, the 59-year-old star has no plans to start a family with him, leading a life quite different from that of her best friend, Gayle King.
"Gayle [now a mother of two] was the kind of kid who, in seventh grade Home Ec class, was writing down her name and the names of her children," shesaid. "While she was having those kind of daydreams, I was having daydreams about how I could be Martin Luther King."
Nonetheless, Winfrey, who grew up in rural poverty and paved her own road to success, said that the past three years have been "the great climb" of her life, and admitted that she "still has a long way to go," especially while developing her television network, OWN.
Just this week, she received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award and teared up while giving her acceptance speech.
