Motherhood coaxed Jessica Alba to quit acting

Jessica Alba

American actor and entrepreneur Jessica Alba opened up about her decision to take a back seat from acting after the birth of her first child.

As per People magazine, she spoke about how becoming a mother in 2008 changed how she viewed her health and career. "My mother had cancer at a really young age. Many women in my family have passed from various different cancers, none of them genetic," Alba said, adding she also "grew up with chronic illness."

"I had five surgeries before I was 11 years old. I had chronic allergies and was hospitalised often. I had this real moment of, I want to live and thrive, and spend as much time with this little person that I'm bringing into the world as possible and stay. So, my health matters. I want this little person to be healthy. And it's really freaking hard to be happy when you don't have your health," Alba said in an interview with Romper, as quoted by Entertainment Tonight.

"That's really what motivated me. My motivation was not like, ‘Am I ever going to get hired again?' Frankly, I was at the top of my career. I couldn't go back to what I was doing before and be authentic. I just couldn't. I didn't care about it the same way," added Alba, who is mother to daughters Honor, 12, Haven, 9, and son Hayes, 3.

Alba added: "I felt like if I was going to have this platform, then what can I do with it that could be meaningful and make a difference. That just felt so real when I became a mom for the first time".

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