Brooke Shields Shares What It’s Like ‘Rekindling’ Her Marriage as an Empty Nester (2025)

Brooke Shields Shares What It’s Like ‘Rekindling’ Her Marriage as an Empty Nester (1)

Hi, it’s Grace, Editor-in-Chief of Parents. Welcome to my bi-weekly column, where I’ll bring you conversations with well-known personalities sharing their experiences on this ride called parenthood.

Grace Bastidas, Editor-in-Chief

Brooke Shields is turning 60 this year and sharing the beauty advice she drummed into her daughters, Rowan, 21, and Grier, 18, early on. “I grew up with shame about everything. I was sort of cut off from my body,” she tells me. “But from the time my daughters were little, I’ve encouraged them to love themselves and their differences. Reminding them that beauty is about how strong, kind, and positive you are.”

It’s a lesson she’s worked hard on considering the pressures that come with being the offspring of an icon. “People would come up to these kids and compare them to their mother, and it’s so unfair, so detrimental,” says the actress. Thankfully, Brooke has successfully deflected the comparisons to raise two confident adults, who continue to be her greatest teachers. “They’ve helped me get more in touch with who I am as a person. It’s a little scary but also refreshing.”

Last year you started your own company, the pro-aging haircare line Commence, and now you have a new book called Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman. Where did the idea come from?

Women in this era of their lives are starting new things and have so much more living to do, but we're not treated like that. There’s this obsession with youth and chasing our past. And as someone in the public eye, how do you grow older and not be a disappointment to people? People get very attached to how I looked at a certain time, but as an almost 60-year-old woman, I'm sorry, but I just look a little different. It's almost as if you hit a certain age, and because you can't make babies anymore, you've somehow lost your value. I wanted to do a deeper dive into this.

So many lessons for your daughters. How has your relationship with them changed as they’ve gotten older?

On a positive, you relate to them more as their equal than the parent. The sadder part is you have to find ways in which they still need you. It's an adjustment. But if you're lucky and have good communication, they start to show you their life. When we first visited them in college and watched their friends relate to them, I was like "I don't know those people. I'm not in control of this situation." It can be scary. But then you start to see them as vibrant young women, and it fills you with such pride.

My kids are only 10 and 11 but somehow, I feel this deep in my soul. How did your upbringing shape you as a parent?

You’re either trying to emulate the way you were parented or run away from it as far as you can. I didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. I wanted to take my mom’s humor and joy but also raise my children with routine and rules. My mother was more bohemian, but I learned early that my girls responded better when they had schedules and rules to either abide by or push against.

You and your husband, Chris Henchy, have been together since 2001 and most of that time has been spent raising children. What does romance look like as empty nesters?

My older daughter said, "All right, mom, time to rekindle [the relationship] with dad." It was such an interesting concept. It's been over 21 years that we've been obsessed with them and now we have to remind ourselves why we fell in love. And I've changed a lot, so it requires patience. He needs to know that it's not a bait and switch but that I've grown since we first met, and that takes time.

I love that your oldest is looking out for you.

She wants to take care of me, and I think she understands that that's kind of a burden, even though she’s putting it on herself. I've been very careful with them both over the years that I'm their mother; they don't have to mother me. I love their empathy and love, but I’m not their problem.

A Final Thought

Even though Brooke Shields told me she doesn’t give parenting advice, I wanted to soak up every single word she said during our conversation. Not only is she incredibly down-to-earth, but she’s also very wise. Raising kids forever changes us by forcing us to stretch and grow in ways we never thought imaginable. I love that she’s still re-discovering who she is through her children. My own daughters hold up the mirror I gaze into as I aim to become the best possible version of myself. It’s a work in progress but I’m up for the task.

Brooke Shields Shares What It’s Like ‘Rekindling’ Her Marriage as an Empty Nester (2025)
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