Katherine Heigl told her partner she wanted to get married and have kids just months into their relationship.
The former 'Grey's Anatomy' actress, who went onto marry Josh Kelley in 2007 and has adopted two daughters with him, decided to be up front about her goals in life.
Speaking to the February 2023 issue of Red magazine, she said: "About six months after meeting my now-husband I was, like, ‘I’d better get a few things straight now: marriage and having a family are both really important to me; starting a family with adoption is also really important to me [her older sister, Meg, was adopted from South Korea before Heigl was born].
"If those things don’t speak to you, we should part ways.’ Luckily, he was, like, ‘I’m down with that!’ ”
The AGE-year-old star explained how important adoption is to her, and opened up on the bond she shares with her own daughters.
She added: “Adoption has always been a part of my life – I was born into it – and I wanted my family to look like the one I came from.
"The moment they handed Naleigh [also adopted from South Korea] to me, I was her mother; I knew I would shield her with my life.
"It doesn’t matter if they hand a child to you from your body or off a plane; they are yours and you are theirs.”
And while the 'Knocked Up' actress faced some criticism in the past for being too outspoken, she noted she has learned which battles to make public.
She said: “I will always stand up for things I believe in… But I also know that airing dirty laundry is not necessary and will just fuel gossip.
"For example, I’ll continue to take a hard stand about long working hours for cast and crew on movie sets, because it’s not good for people’s mental or physical health.
"I’m not going to apologise for that stance, and I don’t really care if people agree with me or not. I’ll also keep talking about animal rights, because that’s something I’m passionate about.
"But if it’s a personal matter – if I’ve had a problem with somebody in a work capacity – I’ve learned to keep that a little more private.”
The full interview with Katherine Heigl is available in the February 2023 issue of Red, now on sale.
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