Being a celebrity comes with a wave of fame and fortune. However, most celebrities have made the conscious choice to seek recognition and prominence in their field. Their children have not. There are some that have capitalized on their families, their photos, their memories, to entice the public and be compensated in accordance.
But there are those, like the 15 listed below, that have chosen a different route; they have gone to extensive lengths to shield their children from the public eye, and doing it have actually created an extensive amount of hype for any paparazzi to capture a picture of the elusive mini-celeb.
When working in the entertainment industry, it can be challenging for these parents to keep their kids hidden but it is impressive that many of them have succeeded. They are clever in their tactics, using Jedi-like moves to safeguard the innocence of their offspring.
Some of them have sheltered the kids behind tinted windows and private schools, while others have literally covered their faces with masks.
It just goes to show the lengths that a parent will go to in order to care for their young.
15 Mila Kunis And Ashton Kutcher
The media collectively had a hay-day when Mila and Ashton first debuted their relationship.
After years of sexual tension on That 70’s Show, the two finally become an item in real life. Viewers who watched all 8 seasons were ecstatic to see one of their favorite TV couples step off the small screen and onto the tabloids.
In 2014 Mila gave birth to her daughter, Wyatt. In 2016, the couple added another child to the mix, son Dimitri. There have been very few sightings of the pair’s offspring, leaving the public to fantasize about the genetic pairings that these celeb babies are carrying.
It is safe to assume that while it is beneficial that these kids’ faces are not plastered across the internet, we are all missing out some pretty adorable children.
14 Kristen Bell And Dax Shepard
Kristen and Dax are probably one of the most beloved Hollywood couples today. While they don’t hesitate in posting photos and videos of themselves (and their various epic adventures), they are notoriously private about their two daughters.
Both stars have joined the ranks of the powerful celebrities in an effort to convince the media not to publish paparazzi photos of children. Kristen explained, “…we don’t want our daughter’s face anywhere ever until she decides because I have the utmost respect for her.”
This protection of their children’s faces does not stop them from posting on social media, but has made them be clever with their online endeavors.
Kristen posted a picture on Instagram captioned, “First daddy and daughter swim in Lake Michigan- a right of passage for any Mitten baby” and hilariously took the shot from so far away that the pair could have been anyone.
Liberty and Delta are two lucky kiddos who probably possess several great genes from their famous parents; hopefully they get the wit AND the looks.
13 Eva Mendes And Ryan Gosling
Many tears were wept by countless women around the globe when the news of Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes broke. A million hearts were shattered when confronted with the happy couple, and this only worsened when it was revealed that they were expecting.
Eva managed to keep the news of her first pregnancy secret almost up until her due date. The only definitive proof the globe has that these two even have children are the birth certificates. There was never an announcement of their girls’ births and there are very few photos to this day.
I’m going to guess this absence of shots is because two of the most beautiful people on the planet have made babies—and maybe we, as a society, just can’t handle the cuteness that would produce.
12 Scarlett Johanson
To be honest, I didn’t even remember that ScarJo had a daughter. That’s how elusive this child is.
The world as a whole did not even know she was expecting until ScarJo’s rep announced that the couple had delivered. It is difficult in this day and age to keep anything a secret, but everyone can take a page out of Scarlett’s book; all we know about her daughter is that her name is Rose Dorothy and was born sometime in September of 2014.
The paparazzi were successful in getting a few shots of Rose Dorothy over the years, but most of them have facial blur and are completely unworthy of posting. Yes, you can get a glimpse of what color her hair is and see that she has two hands, a head and two legs. But other than that, we are all pretty much guessing as to what this little lady looks like.
11 Natalie Portman
Natalie accepted an Oscar in 2010 for her performance in Black Swan while she was clearly very pregnant. That was the most attention that her baby, Aleph, has ever experienced from the public.
Portman delivered a second child, a girl named Amalia in February 2017. Speculation was running wild at the time because she had already declared her intention to skip the Oscar ceremony for her role as Jackie.
Turns out Natalie had given birth four days before the ceremony. All that the couples’ rep had to say was, “Mother and baby are happy and healthy.”
Cleary Portman and her husband, choreographer Benjamin Millepied, could care less about what the public knows about their family and are instead focusing on both of their thriving careers. We all just have to imagine the faces their precious progenies.
10 Julia Roberts
It feels like yesterday that Hollywood darling Julia Roberts welcomed her twins, Hazel and Phinneaus into the world with husband Daniel Molder. Three years later she popped out what I can only imagine to be another beautiful child named Henry.
The rate at which children grow can make any adult feel old. So, get ready—her twins are now thirteen-years-old and baby Henry is ten.
It may feel like yesterday that Julia was playing a lovable prostitute or trying to win back her best friend at a wedding but in reality, there are probably people reading this that don’t even know what movies I’m referring to. (A tear has just rolled down my old-lady cheek.)
You will not find this family in the spot light but this duo has quietly stayed married 15 years, or in Hollywood time, eternity. Clearly, they’re doing something right.
9 Adele
Adel’s music is passion filled drama that is fueled by her experiences in life. While she is not hesitant to share her heart with the world, her feelings are not the same when it comes to sharing her son.
Adel went so far as to not even release the name of her son, but the paparazzi eventually figured out that they had named him Angelo. One photographer got a picture of him in 2013, and in turned was sued by the musician for privacy breach.
This woman has a golden set of pipes on her, but I can only imagine that they can be used for evil if you make her angry. I would not want to be the person on the other end of the phone when she isn’t murmuring, “hello” but is instead telling you to shove something where the sun don’t shine.
8 Lucy Liu
With her busy schedule filming Elementary, Lucy Liu said that her yearning to be a mother was best suited by surrogacy.
Lucy had her son, Rockwell, via gestational surrogate in 2015. (Gestational surrogacy is when the surrogate’s uterus is used to grow the baby but the egg is that of the intended mother IE Liu).
The media had no idea that she was expecting a child, so she was able to keep him under wraps. Even after his birth, however, Lucy has been coy with photos of her son.
As a single mother, Liu’s pregnancy was not exactly traditional. However, she has paired up with Tylenol to promote a campaign whose slogan states that there isn’t one right way to have a family.
"It doesn't matter the machinations of how things occur," Liu says. "How you love and parent a child is most important. That's the support system, really.”
7 Blake Lively And Ryan Reynolds
Even the name of Blake and Ryan’s baby was sought after by the press. But a picture? Could anyone possibly capture one? The couple has been kind enough to share photos of their family, but when their children appear it is usually only a hand, foot, or perhaps an eye.
One of the few photos of both girls was captured in December of 2016 when Ryan was presented with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Blake and his two daughters were there for support, and the media went into a frenzy after getting the whole fam damily together.
Note to Hollywood: be smart. You have to space it out--don’t give Blake her star for a couple more years. Since that may be the only other time we see the kids, give the girls some time to grow.
6 Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck were Hollywood’s sweethearts. Unfortunately, they are now officially getting a divorce. Boo. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t continue to protect their privacy and that of their kids.
The couple have three children together who are rarely seen in public. Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel have been caught by stalking paparazzi, but have never graced the cover of any publication willingly.
Both Garner and Affleck still have fruitful careers, but the only times their children have been photographed has been when they were doing something super down to earth, like walking to school or going to Sunday mass.
Like any celebrity, these parents have to calculate how much they want to disturb their children’s every-day-lives in an effort to keep their faces out of the public eye.
5 Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock shocked the world when she adopted her son Louis in 2010, at the age of 3 months. She had just split with her then husband, Jesse James, and rumors of infidelity were swirling. Instead of focusing on the negative, Sandra used her platform to promote the benefits of adoption, but was coy to produce many pictures of her son.
Bullock was more forthcoming about the adoption of daughter, Laila, in 2015 in an effort to bring awareness to the number of children in the foster care system. She wanted to show the world that families come in all different shapes and sizes, and adoption is one way to achieve that.
When speaking about the foster care system, Bullock explained, “What’s heartbreaking is that some of these kids don’t get love. It’s our duty to help.”
4 Kerry Washington
Kerry’s two children, Isabelle and Caleb, were both kept secret until strategic layers of patterns could no longer conceal her baby belly. Once it was obviously no hiding her form, this celeb mom-to-be embraced her pregnancy and rocked her media events.
Kerry frequented red carpet events with her baby bumps, only proving that her style isn’t hindered by pregnancy. While she doesn’t have a problem showing her own face in public, the faces of her children is a whole different story. There seems to be no photos in existence. Is that even possible?!
It seems as if Kerry has been paying attention in the studio. Like her character Olivia Pope on Scandal, Washington has proven that you really can outwit the press. And it makes us love her all the more.
3 Halle Berry
Like other celebs on the list, Halle Berry is very careful about sharing photos of her children with the media. She has calculated all her released photos as to not show their faces. Instead you will see them facing towards the sunset or ducking behind a doorway.
An Instagram user implied that Halle was ashamed of her children, and that was why their cute faces were lacking from her feed. She fired back.
"I've noticed you have said this several times now so let me be clear — I'm not at all ashamed of my children," she wrote. "I try to find creative ways to incorporate them into my feed because they are the biggest part of my life, but I also work very hard to keep their identities as private as I can considering they are only children."
2 Beyoncé And Jay-Z
The music world came to a stand-still when the king and queen of R&B gave birth to their daughter, Blue Ivy. Considering that Beyoncé and Jay-Z managed to keep their own relationship a secret for years, it should come as no surprise that these celebs are very coy about the privacy of their family.
There were very few pictures of Blue Ivy in the beginning of her life, which only made people wonder more. Slowly images of her have leaked into the media, and Beyoncé herself has posted most of them on her Instagram.
At some point as a celebrity, you must decide how much you want to share your life with public. Lucky for us, this couple has gotten more relaxed with time. However, this power couple has twins on the way. It will be interesting to see if they are going to keep the babies hidden from the spotlight like they did with their first-born.
1 Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson is a pop icon. He made headlines for musical abilities and his sometimes-turbulent personal life. But the sanctity of his children Paris, Prince and Blanket, was always at the forefront of his mind.
Michael was infamous for having his kids wear masks when they went out in public, so that even if the paparazzi got close enough to snap a photo, they would never see their faces. Because no one knew what they looked like, it gave them the anonymity to go out on their own without fear of being recognized.
In a TV special in 2003 Jackson explained, “"I love and adore my children. They mean everything to me. When they’re in public, though, I conceal their faces, 'cause I want my children protected.”
Sources: CBS News, VH1, The Talko. The Richest, People, US Magazine