MANILA — Singer-actress Rachel Alejandro, who is in a long-distance relationship with her husband Carlos Santamaria, said she is not pressured to become a mother.

“To be honest, noong una inu-ultimatum ako ng asawa ko na parang, ‘Ano ba yan? Parang you are always away.’ Noong una it was a source of conflict for us.,” Alejandro, who has been doing shows here and abroad, told Star Magic’s Inside News.

“Pero later on, kasi ngayon we are going on 11 years, I think medyo nahimasmasan na siya. Parang na-realize na niya na ito na ‘yon, this is it. We just had to deal with it. Mahirap talaga. The adjustment really came from his side, kasi siya talaga ‘yung nahirapan. At first parang this is not what I signed for parang may ganoon pa,” she said.

On not having a baby, Alejandro explained that it is because of her work.

“It was not a conscious decision to not have kids on my part, I think it was more na I prioritize so much ‘yung work. Kaya I mention nga na nung pandemic I felt lost because wala akong anak at ‘yung parang buong buhay ko ay dinovote ko talaga sa trabaho,” she said. 

“So parang one day, I just woke up during the pandemic na, ‘ano ang ginawa ko sa sarili ko?’ Parang ganoon, parang ‘did I make the right choices?’ So that is something that a woman has to deal with. Kasi siyempre we got to an age na hindi na rin talaga ganoon ka-viable. It’s not impossible, obviously, there’s science, there are things you can do, hindi ba? And some people choose to adopt pero ‘yung husband ko ‘yung ayaw niya talaga ng kids,” she said.

Alejandro added: “Thankfully hindi naman kami itinatakwil ng mga magulang niya na hindi kami nagbigay na apo. ‘Yung priortiy talaga naging work in my case. Siya naman ang goal niya sa buhay ay to retire early at kung may anak ka ay hindi ka pwedeng mag-retire ng maaga, kailangan kang kumayod. Baligtad na baligtad kami, ako kasi workaholic.”

After a series of shows abroad, Alejandro returned to Manila and staged a comeback concert with her dad, OPM hitmaker Hajji Alejandro.

The two were reunited in a pre-Christmas concert titled “Mana-Mana Lang” last December 9 at Winford Manila Ballroom

Recently, Rachel was awarded as one of the international OPM concert performers of The Elite Globe Awards.