Leah Remini Once Shared How Her Daughter Sofia Stopped Her From Adopting More Kids
Actor Leah Remini only has one child in Sofia Bella Pagan. But there was a point in time when she briefly entertained the idea of bringing home even more kids. However, Sofia wasn’t too keen on the idea.
Leah Remini once shared how her daughter reacted to the idea of having siblings
For Remini, having one child was enough of a handful. She gave birth to Sofia in 2004, while she was still married to her ex-husband Angelo Pagan. As is the case with many first time parents, raising Sofia took some adjusting to in the beginning stages. One of the things Remini had to learn to deal with was her daughter’s bossy behavior. The actor had an entire morning routine she had to follow to accommodate Sofia’s needs.
“It starts with her waking up,” Remini once said in an interview with Us Weekly. “She doesn’t want the curtains opened right away; the light bothers her. She likes to dance to classical music. She wants a Popsicle for breakfast? She gets a Popsicle for breakfast. The kid has learned to reason. It’s very hard to argue with the cuteness of a 3-year-old saying, ‘But it’s strawberries. It’s good for your body.’ It’s tough.”
Usually a lot of crying followed if Sofia didn’t get her way. At one point, Sofia even had a say on whether or not her mother was allowed to have more kids. In a 2011 interview with New York Post, Remini revealed that she briefly considered expanding her family.
“I would love to adopt,” she said. “As Sofia gets older, I have broached the subject with her a few times. And she keeps saying ‘No, I don’t want a brother. I don’t want a sister.’ I will say, ‘But Sofia, it would be really good of you to give a child a home. Mommy and Daddy have enough love for you and the other baby.’ And she just says, ‘Nope. Don’t do it, Mom.’”
Leah Remini’s role as a mom changed as Sofia grew older
Sofia has come a long way, and isn’t the same child that she used to be. She’s currently 20 years old, and had to venture off into the real world to attend college not too long ago. In a 2023 interview with People, Remini had to see her daughter off to school twice, as Sofia decided to transfer to a different university. This meant that the King of Queens alum had to revisit the heartache of saying farewell to her only child.
“I moved her into a dorm room and came home heartbroken to a quiet house. Things didn’t go as planned, and we got our daughter home for another few months,” she said. “In January, we moved her into another college and her apartment. It’s been a few weeks since she left for the second time, and my husband and I are even more of a mess now.”
After keeping a watchful eye over Sofia for so many years, Remini felt her role as a mother changed once she let her daughter go.
“I’ve had the best job of being a mom with my daughter at home for the past 18 years. While I will always be Sofia’s mom, my role changed overnight, and it’s hard to celebrate the change,” she posted on social media. “I miss her and worry too much about her on her own.”
“She’s back at it now, going through all the things a first-year college student should be going through, and we, her parents, are going through what parents like us go through,” Remini added. “Crying, not knowing what to do with ourselves now other than looking at pictures and videos and crying some more.”
