How Diane Keaton’s Life Changed After Adopting Her Children

In her chat with Katie Couric, Diane Keaton shared how her father’s passing in 1990 — following a five-month battle with cancer, per the Los Angeles Times — prompted her to reevaluate her whole life and consider the idea of starting her own family. “It had a lot to do with my father’s passing. My father went many years before my mother. He had a brain tumor and he’s gone,” she said. “And I moved back to California. And I think I had to address what I was going to do with the remainder of my life.” With that said, she had delayed motherhood for many years as Keaton wanted to wait until she found Mr. Right, though that day unfortunately never came. Plus, she simply was not yet ready. “That prolonged my indecisiveness,” she told Ladies’ Home Journal in 2008 (via Today).

When she finally did adopt her children, Keaton’s life completely changed. Speaking with Film Monthly in 2003, Keaton described motherhood as the “the most completely humbling experience I’ve ever had.” “I think it puts you in your place because it really forces you to address the issues that you claim to believe in,” she said. “I mean, we can all sit here and talk, but it’s another thing to act that way in your life.” For Keaton, having children has been both “challenging and intoxicating.” “I’m completely in love with my kids, but I also realize that I have to try and be a better person everyday,” she said, adding that, “with children, you really have to be your best self, always, and be honest.”