Hayden Panettiere, who plays Claire Bennet on NBC's Heroes, has candidly expressed her desire to start a family- somewhere farther along the road. She's only 19 but the young actress seems to have clear idea of what she wants for the future and how to go about it responsibly.
"I want a family," the Heroes actress told OK! magazine. "I want kids. I actually want a lot of kids. Not like ten, like four. And if it's something that you go, 'Oh I can't wait to be a mom,' that's great, but think about it for your child and go, 'I want to be a mom but I want to be the best mom I can be. And the only way to be the best mom I can be is by waiting until I'm no longer a child and waiting until I can teach them the best morals and raise them the best I can with a good education and a good platform. '"
In an effort to promote awareness on teen pregnancy prevention, Panettiere joined teen mom Bristol Palin and others as the Candie's Foundation hosted a town hall meeting for National Teen Pregnancy Awareness Day in NYC.
"I don't think it's something that's talked about enough and I think that it's just human nature to not realize the severity of an issue until it happens to you, until it directly impacts your life," she explained.
Panettiere, who broke up with
Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia and is rumored to be dating Jesse McCartney, isn't exactly an abstinence only advocate. However, she still
had kind words for her fellow speaker, Bristol Palin.
"I think this is all politics aside here," she told
OK! magazine. "Different approaches to this topic, different opinions, but still saying the same thing - just to be safe, to be smart, to be educated and it was very brave of her to come up here and for the younger people to see someone their age going through it."
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff ColumnistSource:
OK!(Image courtesy Getty Images)