Oprah Talks to Michael J. Fox & Tracy Pollan

Oprah: Tracy, after having Sam early in your marriage, what has it been like for you to have another child at this age?

Tracy: That sounds so bad: "At this age"!

Oprah: Earlier, when I asked how you got back in shape so quickly after the baby, you said, "I stopped eating desserts." Is that it, Tracy? I guess that's the key I've been missing all these years!

Tracy: Dessert was big for me!

Oprah: Well, you look like you just stepped out of a magazine. How was having this baby different from having your oldest child, Sam?

Tracy: Sam was our science project. Thank God he has turned out as well as he has, because we didn't know what we were doing.

Michael: When you have your first baby and the pacifier falls on the floor, you pick it up and boil it. But when you get to the fourth, you just lick the pacifier and give it back. You realize that all you need to do is feed 'em, love 'em, and keep 'em out of traffic. And when you have children in your forties, you're not looking for them to complete anything for you. You're a done deal. You're cooked. You're just sharing your experience with a new person.

Tracy: The biggest difference I've noticed is that I'm enjoying every second of having a tiny little baby. Sam and the girls were overwhelming. I wished a lot of it away. With this baby, I'm not wishing it away at all. It's so fun.

Michael: When you meet the person you want to spend your life with, you realize you'd step in front of a train for her—that's love. Then when you have a baby, you say, "I'd step in front of a train right now—and I don't even know you!" We love each of our children just the same. When you hear your own parents say that, you say, "Bullshit! I know you love him more than me!" But I tell my kids, "I just love each of you so much—every one of you is your own story."

Oprah: What an outstanding thing it is to share your life with someone for whom you'd be willing to step in front of a train.

Michael: Absolutely. Choo-choo! I feel really lucky and smart. I look at Tracy sometimes and I have two feelings. One is that she becomes more beautiful every second; and more important, I look at her and say to myself, "Damn, you're smart. Boy, did you make the right choice."

Oprah: What would you add to that, Tracy?

Tracy: The pressure! I can't add much. I feel the same way about him.

Oprah: As I sit here talking with you, you seem like much more than a couple. You have a spiritual partnership.

Tracy: Yes.

Michael: What Tracy has done for me is amazing. She's married to this Mickey Mouse, this...