July 21, 2025
Barack Obama explains why it would’ve been more challenging for him to raise a son.
Barack Obama is imagining what life would’ve been like if he and Michelle Obama had raised a son.
During a recent episode of Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” podcast, the former president praised how he and Michelle raised their daughters, Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, while admitting that he believes raising a son would have been a much more formidable challenge.
“I think we did a pretty good job of raising our girls, but I’ve said often that I think I would have had more difficulty raising a son,” Barack said, which Michelle supported with an “I agree.”
Barack, who grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, with his mother, sister, and maternal grandparents, admits that he likely would have been much tougher on a son than he ever was with his daughters.
“I think I might’ve been more judgmental, harder,” he admitted to his wife and brother-in-law, Craig Robertson. “Father‑son relationships, for me, particularly if I don’t have a dad around to show it to me, might’ve been more difficult.”
The 44th president was estranged from his Kenyan father, who left when Barack was just two years old. He later recalled a visit from Barack Obama Sr. in 1971, when he was 10, a meeting that would be the last time he ever saw his father.
“His short visit had a profound impact on my life,” Barack shared on Instagram in 2021. “My father gave me my first basketball and introduced me to jazz. But for the most part, the visit left me with more questions than it answered, and I knew I would have to figure out how to be a man on my own.”
While speaking with Michelle on her podcast, Barack reflected on how society often overlooks boys’ emotional development, and how that neglect can later shape the way they connect with women.
“If you’re not thinking about what’s happening to boys… then that can actually hurt women,” he said.
“We have not been as willing… to be intentional about investing in boys,” Barack added. “That’s been a mistake.”
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