Dax Shepard Reveals Why He Told His 11-Year-Old Daughter He’d Pay to Freeze Her Eggs

Dax Shepard recently opened up about a parenting moment that surprised a lot of people, all shared on his Armchair Expert podcast.

During Monday’s episode, the actor and podcast host talked with his co-host Monica Padman about a conversation he had with his 11-year-old daughter, Delta, whom he shares with Kristen Bell. According to Shepard, Delta has already been thinking a lot about her future and has made it clear that she wants to be a mom one day.

“Delta was saying how she can’t wait to have a baby,” Shepard said on the podcast. He explained that he wanted to respond in a way that felt supportive and non-judgmental. “I said, ‘When do you think you’ll have your first child, when you turn 18?’ I want to be supportive of whatever. I don’t want to plant any seeds that I’d be judgmental or whatever.”

Shepard also shared a glimpse into Delta’s personality, telling listeners that their family life is filled with her stuffed animals. “For people who don’t know, our life is a traveling circus of Delty’s stuffies. The bulk of our luggage as a family are her stuffies,” he said. He added that he genuinely believes Delta would make a great mom someday.

When Delta said she didn’t think she would want kids at 18, Shepard tried to guess when that might happen. Based on their talk, he assumed she might have her first child much later in life, possibly between the ages of 35 and 45. That led to him making an offer he said was meant to take pressure off her future choices.

“I said, ‘If you want to, we’ll freeze your eggs when you’re 18. I’ll pay for you to get your eggs frozen so you don’t have to think about that,’” Shepard explained on the podcast. He was quick to point out that this comes from a place of privilege. “Acknowledging all luck and privilege, obviously, this isn’t an option for most people.”

Delta, however, didn’t agree with her dad’s timeline. Shepard said she thought having kids in her mid-20s sounded much better, while he and Padman felt she might be underestimating how fun life can be at that age. “Again, she’s 11 so that probably seems like 80,” Shepard joked. “It won’t be time for her to be in the house every night with a child.”

This kind of honesty is nothing new for Shepard, who often talks openly about parenting on Armchair Expert. He and Bell are also parents to their 12-year-old daughter, Lincoln, and Shepard has previously shared his mixed feelings about their future relationships.

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