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Brooke Shields captivated Hollywood as a young model and actress in the ’80s, but she plays a very different starring role at home—as a mom to her two daughters, Rowan Francis Henchy and Grier Hammond Henchy.
The model and actress’s journey to motherhood was not easy, as she underwent seven rounds of fertility treatments before becoming pregnant and eventually suffering a miscarriage.
After the birth of her eldest daughter, Shields suffered from postpartum depression, which became the catalyst for her book Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression and her advocacy for greater awareness of PPD. “I was deadened, and it terrified me because I wanted to have a baby so badly,” Shields, 59, shared at the 2024 PHM HealthFront, a two-day event for healthcare marketers and health media.
Shields—the actor well known for The Blue Lagoon, Endless Love, and Pretty Baby—then naturally conceived her second child, Grier. She shares her two daughters with her husband, Chris Henchy, whom she wed in 2001 after meeting through mutual friends.
But now, with her second moving on to college, Shields and her husband, who have cherished a close-knit family life in their Greenwich Village, New York, home, are facing a new chapter. In a recent interview with PEOPLE on Aug. 28, she admitted, “I’m terrified to be an empty nester!”
Watching her daughters grow into confident young women, Shields said she is left in “awe.”
“All of a sudden, they’re not yours anymore,” she said. “When you realize they are their own human beings, you get to meet them again. To have them reveal themselves to you, it’s a new type of relationship. I didn’t mold them, but I protected them enough so that they could become who they are—and I got out of the way.”
Learn all about what these young women are up to these days—and their heartwarming bond with their mom—here!
Rowan Francis Henchy, 21
Shields and Henchy welcomed their first daughter, Rowan Francis, on May 15, 2003—whom Shields affectionately described as “a golden retriever puppy.”
“Rowan bounces around. She’s got energy. She’s funny.”
Now 21, Rowan—who’s enjoyed a close relationship with her mother since she was a young girl—is a senior at Wake Forest University. When Shields said goodbye to her firstborn heading off to college, she shared an emotional post on Instagram, writing: “That was the saddest drive away from anywhere I’ve ever had to make.”
“My unique and extraordinary baby girl spreading her wings. I love you so. We are so proud of you…But my baby is BEGINNING one of the most important adventures of her life to date…NOW!” Brooke added.
And it didn’t get any easier for the next goodbye, as Shields posted an emotional TikTok showing her sobbing inconsolably after her daughter left home for college again.
“Turns out second time is NOT the charm when it comes to your baby going off to college. Sophomore year, here she comes. I’ll be crying if you need me…” she wrote at the time.
As Rowan carves her own path, she still follows in her mom’s footsteps in the sweetest ways. Brooke shared a heartwarming moment on Instagram when her daughter wore her iconic red 1998 Golden Globes dress to prom, writing that “nothing could have prepared her” for the occasion. For a high school graduation gift, Brooke and Rowan went to Stefano’s Tattoo Studio in New York City to get matching red ladybug tattoos. The mother-daughter ink was Rowan’s idea; Brooke told PEOPLE she “couldn’t believe it” and “jumped” at the idea.
Grier Hammond Henchy, 18
Shields and Henchy welcomed their second daughter, Grier Hammond, on April 18, 2006, in Los Angeles–who opposite to her sister, Shields described as “an Abyssinian cat.”
“Grier is very poised. She’s pristine and put together,” Shields said of her younger daughter. The description seems fitting, as the model’s lookalike has shown an interest in fashion and is considering a future in modeling or entertainment—but only after completing her education, following her mother’s advice.
“My kids aren’t missing school,” Shields told Social Life. “My intellect was the only thing that got me out of that craziness.”
Even though Brooke has made her feelings clear, the 18-year-old’s Instagram bio notes that she’s already represented by IMG Models, and she regularly shares photos showcasing her fashion sense.
Although Brooke hopes to shield her girls from the entertainment industry, she embraces every moment she can spend with them, whether it’s making TikToks together or staging a photo shoot in matching plaid swimsuits. “When you have teenagers, you take what you can get,” she joked to People. “It’s about just celebrating life and that we’re all coming out of this crazy time and we’re together…anytime that I can spend with them, I beg to do it.”
The mother-daughter duo also appeared in a female-empowerment-themed campaign for Victoria’s Secret. “To be able to shoot this campaign with my daughter and to showcase the beauty of our relationship was a dream come true,” Shields wrote ahead of Mother’s Day 2022 via Instagram as she shared a pic from the campaign. More recently, the model revealed that her daughter was her date to the 2023 CNN Heroes ceremony with a series of photos with her daughter on Instagram.
Brooke shared how Grier felt about Pretty Baby. “Grier looked at it as all the things that I kept from her … She was outraged, and she was very sad,” she said on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna. “She said, ‘Nothing you say to me, Mom, is going to make it better … She said, ‘I hate seeing bad things happen to you.’”
Now moving on to her first year at Wake Forest, joining her older sibling, Brooke feels a bit better knowing, “They’re going to have each other’s back.”
“They’re both tough and strong-willed. The world is not going to undo them. I’m proud of who they are,” Shields said.
“I’m going to really miss them,” she added. “I want to stay on the periphery, but I’m also excited about what’s ahead.”
