Lucy Liu is very open about her motherhood experience.
The “Elementary” star welcomed a son, Rockwell Lloyd Liu, in 2015. Since becoming a parent, she’s spoken about adjusting to motherhood, choosing gestational surrogacy, being a single mom and more.
In honor of her birthday, we’ve rounded up 17 quotes about motherhood from Liu.
On Adjusting To Motherhood
“The first few months, it was like I took an aphrodisiac. I was totally in love and had this high. Now I have a more rigorous schedule since becoming a mom; I’m more planned and organized. Things used to be a bit more open.”
On Asking For Help
“I think it’s important to speak out and say, ‘I think I need some help. I can’t do this by myself.’ I think people put too much pressure on themselves and they get overwhelmed. You don’t have to do it all on your own.”
On Choosing Gestational Surrogacy
“It just seemed like the right option for me because I was working and I didn’t know when I was going to be able to stop. I decided that was probably the best solution for me, and it turned out to be great.”
On Redefining What Family Means
“That isn’t necessarily getting married, having a child and moving to the suburbs. It’s about how you love your child and how you take care of them.”
On Welcoming Her Son
“I cried when he came out.”
On Watching Babies Grow
“I didn’t realize how quickly babies progress. Very basic things that you just take for granted. They’re just this little lump of flesh, and then all the sudden they’re turning around, they’re observing you and they’re smiling and they’re interacting. It’s a magical experience.”
On The Transformation Of Motherhood
“Motherhood has completely turned my world upside down in a positive way. You can’t really note the changes, it’s more of an overhaul. Things you thought you knew, you don’t really know. The things you thought were important, really aren’t important.”
On Giving Herself Grace
“I think being flexible is really important as a new mom. Also, you’re going to get advice from a lot of people and you can take bits and pieces, but you know innately what your child needs. You should trust that. Don’t beat yourself up for making decisions about things that may or may not work. It’s an experiment in life and you’re a part of that.”
On Balancing Work And Parenthood
“I love being a mother. It becomes the biggest and most important job you could ever have. I have always been very career oriented. After having my son, it’s not that I enjoy my job less, I love it much more because he makes everything in my life that much more. He helps underline everything in my life and put it all in bold.”
On Her Dog’s Bond With Her Son
“She’s really gentle. She’s protective, too. She’ll sit between him and whoever else comes in just to make sure they don’t step on him. It’s really beautiful to see how they interact.”
On Bringing Her Son To Set
“I asked for a lot of help and I wasn’t shy about it. I didn’t have an ego about taking care of him. I want him to be comfortable when he’s with me and not with me. When we go to set, there’s a community taking care of him. It’s good because he sees different faces.”
On Surrogacy Criticism
“I didn’t [feel judgment] until people said, ‘Disregard what these people are saying on social media.’ I was like, ‘I didn’t realize people were saying anything on social media!’ I don’t review everything that people say. Generally, if I post something I don’t go back and look at it again because, you know, everyone is going to have an opinion. But I was surprised when some of my friends told me that. I thought, ‘How can anyone have any discouraging words for a baby? For having had a baby.’ I find that really shocking, and I felt it was strange and odd in this day and age that people would have a negative slant on someone having a family, or having judgment on how someone had a family.”
On Her First Mother’s Day As A Mom
“You’re so busy mothering that you actually forget. For me, it will be a day to pause and just recognize how far along everything has come for me and how this choice that I made for myself has given me and brought me so many wonderful opportunities, and opened up my world in such a way that I would have never imagined.”
On What Matters
“I’m a single mother who had a baby through a gestational carrier, and I know that people had opinions about how it was done. And I think it’s really important that people also embrace that it’s not about those details, it’s about how you carry on from the point of having your child and loving your family.”
On Her Village
“I don’t really raise [Rockwell] by myself. I have a lot of friends and a group of people who help me. It’s important to ask for help. If you can manage on your own, that’s fine, but people shouldn’t feel that they have to be alone while doing it.”
On Responsibility
“You have the responsibility of having another human that is 100 percent yours. That human is yours to nurture, yours to love and yours to teach ― but you have to allow them to have independence as well.”
On The Magic Of Parenthood
“It’s been monumental, he’s amazing. Every single day there is something new and something special.”
