Gwyneth Paltrow is consciously co-parenting.
While Paltrow shares two children—Apple, 19, and Moses, 17—with ex-husband Chris Martin, she’s also the stepmom of current husband Brad Falchuk’s own kids: Isabella, 19, and Brody, 17. Though the 50-year-old Goop mogul married the 52-year-old television producer in 2018, Paltrow recently revealed that it took a minute for her to grow into that role in his kids’ lives.
“I did find it really hard at first,” Paltrow shared during a candid Instagram Q+A on August 30, per People. “You know, there’s no book on this; nobody tells us what to do. And, in fact, all of the existing media around what a stepmother is casts us in this evil, villainous light. So it’s kind of like trying to avoid land mines. And then you’re going into a family with dynamics. And there’s all kinds of fear around loss and what does this person mean?”
She continued, “But for myself, the minute I decided, and fully embodied the idea that my step kids were my kids and I love them just as much and I gave them the same rules and boundaries, and just kind of whole-heartedly went for it, then the easier the whole thing got. And now it’s pretty great.”
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Gwyneth Paltrow previously spoke about her relationship with her stepchildren with fellow stepmom Gabrielle Union in March 2021. During an episode of The Goop Podcast, Paltrow told Union that stepparenting was “a really interesting challenge” for her. “I have two beautiful stepchildren, who are the same age as mine,” Paltrow said at the time, per People. “It’s funny because when I became a stepmother—when I knew I was going to become a stepmother—I was like, ‘Shit, I have no idea how to do this. There’s nothing to read. What do I do? Where do I step in? Where do I not? Like, how do I do this?'”
She continued, “It’s been a really interesting challenge for me and I love them. I’ve learned so much about myself through the process.”