Why Millie Bobby Brown Would Rate Motherhood an 11 Out of 10
Why Millie Bobby Brown Would Rate Motherhood an 11 Out of 10
To Millie Bobby Brown, celebrating her first Mother's Day with her daughter and husband Jake Bongiovi, it wasn't a strange thing to want to have a family as soon as possible.
Watch: Millie Bobby Brown Has Adorable Twinning Moment With Baby Girl in New Photo
Millie Bobby Brown couldn't wait to have kids and, when the opportunity arose for her and husband Jake Bongiovi to become parents, she didn't have to count to 11 before making a decision.
“Jake knows how important it is to me,” the Stranger Things actress said on a March 2025 episode of Smartless, noting that her spouse was the one who said marriage had to come before the baby carriage. “Of course I want to focus on really establishing myself as an actor and as a producer, but I also find it’s so important to start a family for me, personally.
Then 21, Millie acknowledged she was “still really young.” But since her mom was 21 when she had her first child...
So came the news in August that Millie, now 22, and Jake, 24, had adopted a baby girl, the couple sharing that they were "beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy."
And as she celebrates her first Mother's Day, they've managed to nurture their family of three—not including the dozens of animals that also reside on the couple's Georgia farm—on their own terms.
Even as she embarked on a big press tour last year, Millie deftly kept the excitement that swirled over the final season of Stranger Things (and what really happened to Eleven) separate from her own state of bliss.
Millie Bobby Brown/Instagram
“For me, it’s really important to protect her and her story until she’s old enough to potentially one day share it herself,” she told British Vogue in November of her daughter. “It’s not my place to purposefully put her in the spotlight unwillingly. If she chooses to share her personality one day with the world, like I did when I was young, that’s something we’d support. But right now, as she’s so little… As her parents, it’s our job to protect her from that."
Hence Millie only sharing fleeting glimpses of her daughter on Instagram in adorable but otherwise unidentifiable ways.
But talking about motherhood is another story, as the Florence by Mills founder has plenty to share about how much life has changed for the better.
Calling this her "most authentic era," Millie explained to Allure, "Being a mother expedited this version of me. Nothing could get in the way of me being who I need to be for my daughter.”
She wants her child to see her practicing self-care, she explained, though, “You have to do everything 10 times quicker, and you don’t really get to do your gua sha in the morning.”
Instead, she's been trying to spent more time nurturing her relationships with both her loved ones and herself.
"I have to talk to myself kindly,” Millie explained, noting how easy it is to “talk badly about yourself and your body” out of habit. “After becoming a parent, I couldn't imagine talking about myself like that anymore, because she's going to watch me do that.”
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Glamour
And, if life continues to go according to plan, Millie's audience is only going to get larger.
"I really want a big family," she said on Smartless. "I’m one of four, he’s one of four. So, it is definitely in our future. But for me, I don’t see having your own child, you know, as really any different as in adopting...My home is full of love for anyone and anything."
Which includes animals, Millie quipping that people in their community thought she was pregnant at one point because she was buying so many bottles and diapers for their rescues.
Though she recently posted a photo that indicated her dog Winnie is starting to accept the tiny human in their midst, Millie said on The Tonight Show in December that sharing her territory with a baby had been "a hit to the ego" for the pup.
Millie Bobby Brown/Instagram
As for Jake, whom she wed twice in 2024—once to make it legal and again in Tuscany to make it exquisite—he's shown up as advertised.
Getting married "is such an important decision," Millie told Vanity Fair last year, "and we wanted to make sure we were making the right one. I knew I was. It always felt right with him."
And sure enough, he turned out to be "the most amazing dad," according to his wife.
"We are 50-50 on everything," Millie told Vogue. "That’s why I’m so grateful to have partnered with him in this life."
Being parents together was "a beautiful, amazing journey," she said. “Perspective is a huge thing. The smaller things in life are so much more precious. Our days are filled with lots of cuddles and laughter and love. It’s just endless joy.”
And while they're holding on to what they've got, see Millie and Jake's love story in photos:
Instagram / Jake Bongiovi
June 2021: First Instagram Pic
The pair sparked romance rumors around the time that Jake posted this photo, with the caption, "bff <3"
Instagram / Jake Bongiovi
November 2021: Never Say Goodbye
The couple officially confirmed their romance with this PDA pic.
Instagram / Jake Bongiovi
November 2021: Bon Jovi 2.0
"We're starting a band," Jake wrote on Instagram, "send name ideas."
Instagram / Jake Bongiovi
December 2021: Merry Christmas
The Stranger Things star and the actor celebrated their first Chirstmas together in 2021.
Instagram / Jake Bongiovi
December 2021: Happy Holidays
Sweet selfie.
Instagram / Jake Bongiovi
February 2022: Celebrating Millie's 18th Birthday
Twinning.
Joe Maher via Getty Images
March 2022: Red Carpet Official
Millie and Jake make their first joint appearance at a celebrity event—the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards in London.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images
May 2022: Stranger Things Premiere
Millie and Jake were twinning at the premiere of Stranger Things season four in New York City.
January 2023: New Year's
Millie shared photos of the couple in celebration of the New Year, writing, "endlessly in love with the year I've had."
January 2023: New Year's
One snapshot showed a photo booth strip of the loved-up couple.
January 2023: New Year's
As Millie put it, "grateful for my friends, family, donkey (bernard), my doggies, my puppies teeth, and my partner for life."
February 2023: Golden Birthday
Jake marked Millie's 19th birthday on Feb. 19, 2023 with a sweet tribute, writing, "Another year around the sun together happy 19th to the girl of my dreams."
February 2023: Golden Birthday
The sweet post included photos of the couple.
February 2023: Golden Birthday
The pair's silly side is depicted in one image of Jake and Millie clowning around in the pool
February 2023: Golden Birthday
Jake and Millie snuggle up in a romantic selfie.
April 2023: Engaged
Millie announced the couple's engagement on Instagram, quoting Taylor Swift's song "Lover." The two would go on to celebrate with family and friends at an engagement party weeks later.
Instagram / Millie Bobby Brown
July 2023: Six Flags Visit
Millie and Jake enjoyed a day out with her sister Ava Brown, 11, and friends at the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park.
Instagram (@jakebongiovi)
September 2023: Summer Nights
Jake shared this pic in the final days of summer 2023.
November 2023: Glamour Women of the Year
The two appear at the event, where Millie was honored as one of two Global Women of the Year.
Instagram / Jake Bongiovi
February 2024: Happy Birthday Millie
Jake shared a tribute to his partner for her 20th birthday, writing, "Happy birthday my beautiful fiancéI love you so much. Big year ahead."
Instagram / Millie Bobby Brown
March 2024: Anniversary
Millie shared this tribute to Jake on their third dating anniversary.
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP
May 2024: Married
After three years of dating, the duo tied the knot in a private ceremony, multiple outlets reported.
August 2025: Expanding Their Family
Over a year after their nuptials, Millie and Jake shared they had a new arrival.
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"This summer, we welcomed our sweet baby girl through adoption," the couple announced in an Aug. 21 Instagram post. "We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy."
They concluded, "And then there were 3."
