Gabrielle Union: Barrenness Is Price Career Women Pay

Actress Gabrielle Union doesn't have any kids at age 42, and she doesn't hold back when discussing the issue with Redbook. "So far, it has not happened for us," she says of herself and 33-year-old husband Dwyane Wade. "A lot of my friends deal with this. There's a certain amount of shame that is placed on women who have perhaps chosen a career over starting a family younger. The penance for being a career woman is barrenness. You feel like you're wearing a scarlet letter."

But, she notes, things also aren't so rosy on the other side: "The reality is that women are discriminated against in the workplace for being mothers," she says. "As much as there are strides being made—you get pregnant, your career takes a hit. You can't have a bad day. Don't you dare cry at work. Don't raise your voice. Especially if you're a black woman in corporate America—now you're 'the angry black woman.'" (More Gabrielle Union stories.)