Kendrick Sampson has a unique perspective on choosing the mother of his children, and for him, it goes beyond simply being in a romantic relationship.
During a recent appearance on the LOVERS by Shan podcast, the Insecure actor told host Shannon Boodram that while he wants to have children, he would prefer raising them with a close female friend rather than a romantic partner.
“I just look at love differently,” Sampson said around the 45-minute mark of the video linked below. “In my head, if I’m going to have a partnership, I don’t want a child in there. I want a child. I definitely want children, but I want children with my homegirls. I want my homegirls to know that we ain’t ever going to have a romantic nothing, and the only thing we worried about is the health of the child.”
He went on to explain, “It ain’t complicated by what I feel and what mood I’m in, how you betrayed me, how you slept with someone, how you cheated. I don’t want the romance. You haven’t been shown enough romance, and so now the kid is suffering? I would rather be in a relationship where we know we got kids. ‘It takes a village.’ This is the village.”
Sampson referenced a couple Boodram had previously interviewed, Lawrence and Brandy, who established a parenting agreement before welcoming a child. Boodram shared that the pair lived together, with Lawrence supporting Brandy throughout her pregnancy, while maintaining a strictly platonic relationship.
He also highlighted the Black maternal mortality rate in Texas, along with the challenges of navigating the healthcare system, finding doulas, and pursuing natural childbirth.
“When they say it takes a village, it really do,” he said. “And I’ve had conversation with homegirls. And I’m like, I think you’d be an incredible mom. That’s the only thing I’m looking at. Hey, if you ever , you know what I’m saying? I’m here for you.”
According to Sampson, romance serves an entirely different “function” in his life, requiring a separate “set of skills” that include comforting one another, prioritizing mutual pleasure, and figuring out how two people can build a fulfilling life and relationship together.
“It’s a different set of skills, different considerations, different goals, and it disrupts a lot of what I believe should be a healthy setup for a kid,” he said.
Later in the interview, Sampson described romantic love as “the smallest form” and “the most narrow form” of love, revealing that he has no specific plans for a romantic partnership in his future.
“I like to say, specifically, I have no goal for that for the end of my life,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I just have no plan for I’ve had a complicated, complex relationship with sex … Not saying that romance and intimacy can’t be pleasurable. Obviously you want it to be but it’s separate.”
