George Clooney Opens Up About Parenting Twins, Denies Using Fertility Drugs

June 13, 2024

George Clooney is opening up about becoming a father to twins, revealing to The Hollywood Reporter details of the birth and denying that he and wife Amal used fertility drugs to become pregnant.

In THR’s cover story, the Suburbicon director says the couple never really discussed children while they were dating and didn’t broach the subject until sometime after their 2014 wedding.

“It had never been part of my DNA,” he says. “We didn’t plan on it. We never talked about it until after we were married, which is funny. There was an assumption that we didn’t want them. And then, after the wedding, Amal and I were talking and we just felt we’d gotten very lucky, both of us, and we should share whatever good luck we’ve got. It would seem self-centered to just have that belong to us.”

Amal became pregnant in 2016, and Clooney was with her in London when they went to the doctor for an ultrasound. “He goes, ‘Well, there’s one.’ And I said, ‘Great.’ And then he goes, ‘And there’s the second one.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ We just sat there, staring at that piece of paper they give you, and I kept thinking there was a mistake.”

The couple welcomed a boy and a girl, named Alexander and Ella, on June 6, a month premature, at St. Mary’s Hospital, the same hospital where Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children were born. Alexander was born one minute and 49 seconds before Ella; Clooney reveals to THR (the first media outlet to see the babies up close) that Alexander weighed five and a half pounds, while Ella was four and a half pounds. The twins have dual British and American nationality.

Clooney, at age 56, says of his reaction to the birth: “It was wild. You know, everything is conceptual until it’s real. It’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to be parents, yeah.’ And all of a sudden you go: ‘Holy shit. I’m a parent!’?”

While Clooney admits that both parents are “unrested,” he was surprised to find that he’s good at changing diapers.

Contrary to tabloid reports, Clooney denies that the duo used fertility drugs to become pregnant — speculation that likely arose due to Amal’s age and the multiple births. (Women who are age 35 and older are considered of “advanced maternal age” by the medical community.) Asked if she wants more children, Amal demurred: “I’m 39. I already had them quite late.”

Fatherhood is both emotional and scary, “all of those things,” Clooney added. “The first thing you think is, ‘I hope I don’t screw this up.’ I mean, look, we are all responsible for things in life, and Amal and I are responsible for each other in a way — we look out for one another and we care about one another. But you are really responsible for two kids. I want them to be happy. I want them to have a sense of humor. I want them to be interested in things. I want them to be compassionate about other people’s plights. Because that’s the thing, you know? You have to have some sort of empathy.”

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