Michael J. Fox on Fatherhood and Parkinson’s
The celebrated actor Michael J. Fox values parenthood more than any of his performances. After more than 30 years of marriage, Tracy Pollan and I have four kids together. Fox said in a lighthearted way to Reader’s Digest that there are moments when it feels like five.
Fox emphasizes the value of being there for his children by saying, “Always be available to your kids.” For example, if you say, “Give me five minutes, give me ten,” it will actually be fifteen or twenty. And whatever it was they wanted to impart with you will have faded by the time you arrive.
Fox, who received a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 1991, expressed gratitude to his kids for their fortitude and kindness. He frequently posts on Instagram about how close he is to them. “Our children are beautiful, sensitive, intelligent, empathetic, independent, compassionate, adventurous, lovely people,” he wrote to Pollan on Mother’s Day in 2022. You are to blame for that.
Fox has two sons: Aquinnah and Schuyler, who work in media and education, and Sam, who is the oldest and works in entertainment. Esmé, his youngest, attends Duke University. Fox has raised more than $2 billion for Parkinson’s research.
