Meet Sarah Jessica Parker's Twin Daughters, Marion & Tabitha
Some "Sex and the City" fans might have a hard time separating Sarah Jessica Parker from her beloved character. After all, she and Carrie Bradshaw are both chic New Yorkers who love a good high heel (SJP even has her own shoe brand). Before she became a mom, Parker actually lived a bit like the footloose and fancy-free columnist. "Without children, I feel like I was wonderfully reckless about decision-making. It didn't really affect anyone else," she told AARP. But unlike Bradshaw, Parker decided that motherhood was something she deeply desired and was willing to sacrifice some of that freedom for.
In 1997, she married an actor also known for playing a carefree character, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" star Matthew Broderick, and the couple welcomed their son, James Wilkie Broderick, in 2002. When they decided to expand their family, they turned to surrogacy after struggling to conceive. In an interview with Vogue, Parker described how her twins' 2009 arrival differed from her prior birth experience. "It's ... suspended animation," she said. "... It's as if everything else disappears for a moment, and the world goes silent and — I can't explain it except to say that nothing else existed. ... It's so different and equally extraordinary."
Her daughters, Tabitha Hodge Broderick and Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick, clearly have loving parents and access to one of the most coveted closets in existence, but we can't help but wonder: Have they seen the HBO series that's partly responsible for their privileged life?
One of the twins was named by her brother
James Wilkie Broderick was excited to become a big brother. When it was time to rush to the hospital to greet his little sisters, he spared a moment to grab a comb, look in a mirror, and make himself as presentable as possible. "He doesn't know that I heard him say, 'I have to be handsome when I meet my sisters.' It killed me," Sarah Jessica Parker recalled to Vogue. James also wanted to be involved in naming the twins but was only adamant about his parents using one moniker: Marion. Parker told The Daily Beast his reason for picking the name was a mystery to her, but she indulged him without explanation, Parker recalled that her son told her, "You put that name on the birth certificate. Don't you just humor me."
James even chose which twin would bear the name, opting for the sister who more closely resembled him, per Elle. Everyone else referred to Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick as Loretta or her nickname, Kitty. Parker also gave Tabitha Hodge Broderick a nickname: Babe. "Babe Broderick! Kitty Broderick! It's like it's 1940," Parker told Vogue.
It didn't take James long to take on the mantle of the protective older brother. "He said something about a theoretical idea that `if someone made fun of my sisters, I'd be really upset,'" Parker recalled to Elle in 2009. However, James also reserved the right to tease the twins as much as he pleased.
Sarah Jessica Parker missed seven weeks of baby time
Sarah Jessica Parker relished every moment of those early weeks with her daughters, including the bits that some parents would rather skip. Her views on dirty nappies might nauseate those who dread changing time. "I love the smell of diapers; I even like when they're wet and you smell them all warm like a baked good," she told Elle.
When the twins were four months old, Parker was willing to give up seven weeks' worth of wrapping up poopy plastic pastries to go film "Sex and the City 2" in Morrocco. Per Marie Claire, Loretta and Tabitha weren't yet old enough to get all of the shots recommended for traveling there with their mom. "That was really distressing," Parker told The Telegraph.
But according to the actor, her twins ultimately benefit from the family time she sacrifices to go to work. It is, after all, Parker's "SATC" money that allows her to provide them with incredible experiences that other children don't have access to. "They get to travel with me and meet interesting people because of the particular, strange choices I've made," Parker pointed out to the Belfast Telegraph. She'll also want to keep the twins happy, as Parker told The Telegraph that her pediatrician made a somewhat morbid prediction about the girls — "That one of them was going to look after me and hold my hand at the end and the other one was going to arrange the funeral."
Their mom noticed early differences in their personalities
Sarah Jessica Parker told Elle she was surprised at how little Tabitha and Loretta Broderick resembled their older brother when they were babies. Early on, she also discovered that the twins had distinct personalities. In a 2011 interview with Parade, Parker revealed that Loretta was the more interactive and observant of the two. Her way of seeking attention from her mom was by pointing out interesting sights and sounds to her. As for her twin, she preferred being pampered over conversing with her parents. "Tabitha does not give; she receives," said Parker. The budding fashionista also liked to be arrayed like a little princess. "She's crazy for bows; she wants her head covered in them!" Parker told Elle (via Us Weekly).
Another major difference between the twins had Parker joking that they'd embraced opposing political ideologies as toddlers. "One of them likes to eat all the time, the other only if she's really hungry," she told The Telegraph. "One of them is a Democrat and one of them is a Republican."
However, the sisters did have one thing in common, and Parker said that it made it possible for her to spend less time working out. In a 2011 appearance on "This Morning" (via Cosmopolitan), she shared, "My daughters insist on being carried at the exact same time. They're like 25 pounds now each."
Tabitha and Loretta's early interest in clothes and jewelry
Fans of "Sex and the City" have long adored Carrie Bradshaw's penchant for mixing prints and pairing unexpected pieces together to create some of the most visually interesting outfits on television. Sarah Jessica Parker gave her daughters the opportunity to do the same by deciding to offer them little style guidance. "They pick out their own clothes every single day," Parker told People in 2013. Loretta and Tabitha Broderick were just 3 years old at the time, and Parker said that they made their sartorial decisions after naptime. Their parents only offered input if their outfits weren't weather-appropriate. Of the fashion freedom she allowed her daughters to have, Parker told ABC News (via GMA), "It's not hurting anybody for them to express themselves that way ... For school, whatever makes them feel good and heard is fine."
While Parker told People that Loretta would ask for assistance on occasion, Tabitha preferred to be a true trendsetter by trusting her own style instinct. The twins were also allowed to choose their accessories. "It's very amusing and entertaining for me," Parker said.
But some of the accessories Tabitha and Loretta wanted to wear weren't just plastic bead necklaces or hairbows. Parker told CBS News that the twins were already raiding their mom's jewelry box at age 3 — which she was totally cool with. "I've told them basically all of it's theirs with some set aside for my son," she explained.
The sisters toddled around in high heels
Sarah Jessica Parker wants her daughters to someday benefit from her status as a star with two of Hollywood's most fashionable feet. "The only tragedy would be if their feet are bigger than mine," she told Elle in 2009, when the twins still had many years to reach their adult shoe sizes. In a 2014 interview with ET, Parker revealed that they were already expressing an interest in her collection of high heels. Tabitha Broderick mastered the art of walking in them first. In fact, she was already running in the footwear like a mini Carrie Bradshaw. "Loretta's slightly more timid in her movements," Parker shared. She also didn't feel like the twins were quite ready to practice their runway walks on the pavement as preschoolers, telling People, "They are forbidden to leave the house in them."
Wearing heels as often as she has, Parker has learned a thing or two about foot care. While pedicures can help keep tootsies in tip-top shape, it's not always easy for a global superstar with three kids to find time to get one. Luckily, Parker found a budget-friendly method for making her soles silky smooth, and it also served as a way for her to bond with Tabitha and Loretta. "My daughters and I take some sand and rub it all over our feet and we treat it like a pedicure," she told InStyle (via Good Housekeeping) in 2016.
SJP's early life lessons for her daughters
During a 2016 chat with Andy Cohen at NYC's 92nd Street Y, Sarah Jessica Parker confronted her pal over an anecdote about her daughters in his tell-all, "Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries" (via Bravo). Cohen had expressed surprise that Tabitha and Loretta Broderick were pocketing the money they were making selling lemonade. But Parker revealed that they reopened their lemonade stand a week later and donated the proceeds to an elephant charity. She explained that the enterprise was designed to teach her daughters an important financial lesson. "There is an art to you becoming a philanthropic business that donates," she noted. "You can only do that when you are sustainable."
In a 2016 interview with ET, Parker revealed that one of the twins already possessed the same entrepreneurial spirit as her mom. "Apparently, one of my daughters is plotting to take over ... She has designs, so to speak, on running, as she says, 'mama's company,' said the shoe mogul.
In addition to teaching her daughters about business, SJP has shared some important lessons about self-confidence and beauty with the girls. She told British Vogue that she encourages them to make style choices that make them feel good instead of giving them her honest opinion when she doesn't like something they want to wear. "I give them far more advice about manners," she said. "I have a strong suspicion that if they're good people out in the world they'll be considered beautiful."
They're quite the party planners
Matthew Broderick told AARP that Tabitha and Loretta Broderick love to help decorate for the holidays. And in 2017, they put their skills to good use during another special occasion. That March, Sarah Jessica Parker took to Instagram to show off the table setting her daughters helped arrange for her birthday. There was a place card with "Mama" written on it in pink, and the artistic twin in charge of creating that decorative piece added a drawing of a festive balloon. Tabitha and Loretta got creative with the floral arrangement as well, opting for paper flowers over the real deal. The girls placed a cardboard crown and an artfully folded napkin on their mom's plate, and they generously sprinkled the table with gold sequins and confetti. SJP shared a photo of one of the twins balancing a few shiny spangles on her fingertips and captioned it, "Sequins, the gift that keeps on giving."
A month later, the then 8-year-old twins made a rare public appearance with their parents and their older brother at the Broadway premiere of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (above). But apparently, getting a small taste of their mom's sweet life didn't make them want to be a part of that world. In a February 2017 interview with the New York Post, Parker revealed that their interests remained outside the entertainment industry at the time. "They're into architecture and art and books and walking," she said.
They didn't want to attend the same school
In a 2018 interview with People, Sarah Jessica Parker revealed that her then-8-year-old daughters were not the type of twins who were inseparable. "They go to different schools. That's Tabitha's idea," she said. The actor also shared that Tabitha Broderick often enjoyed her own company more than that of her sibling, but this didn't mean that she disliked Loretta Broderick. "They have different interests," Parker explained. "They're really devoted to each other, but they'll also say, 'I need time away from her.'"
One event that the twins didn't seem to mind hanging out together at was New York City Ballet's 2018 Spring Gala. Tabitha and Loretta even rocked similar outfits for the occasion: dresses with the same A-line silhouette, which they accessorized with headbands (above). They wore matching Mary Jane shoes and carried identical bejeweled purses. However, the floral prints on their dresses were different, with Loretta also opting to wear white turn-cuff socks with her footwear.
SJP possibly had that outing in mind when she later spoke to the Evening Standard about the rare style squabbles she and her daughters would have around that time. "Typically, it'll be about something that's inappropriate for the occasion. Like we're going to the ballet — you should wear a dress that doesn't have paint all over it," Parker said. "But some battles aren't worth having. I'll battle with them over who they are, not what they wear."
Tabitha and Loretta wear hand-me-downs
While Sarah Jessica Parker's daughters have grown up with the freedom to put their own outfits together, their mom hasn't kept their closets stuffed full of expensive designer pieces to choose from. Parker grew up with eight siblings, so her childhood wardrobe included a lot of hand-me-downs. And when it's a necessity for apparel to get passed on from child to child, parents learn how to preserve it as best they can. "My mother saved everything I wore as a child, so my daughters wear my hand-me-downs," Parker told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. However, their wardrobes don't solely consist of SJP's vintage pieces. "My son is seven years older than my daughters and they were offered his old pants and sweaters," Parker told the Evening Standard. "I looked at it as they had an option to leave the house with clothing on and left it up to them."
Someday, the actor's daughters will have more hand-me-downs bequeathed to them: the innumerable valuable wardrobe items their mom has accrued during her Hollywood career. Parker seems to suspect that Tabitha and Loretta Broderick won't mind having those old clothes in their closets at all, telling People that she's going to let them fight over who gets what. And if her designer shoes don't fit either twin, Parker doesn't expect them to keep her collection for sentimental reasons. "They can give them away, share them with friends, sell them, have a stoop sale, whatever they want," she said.
The twins are talented
Tabitha and Loretta Broderick seemed to enjoy a relatively normal childhood, despite their parents' fame. In a 2018 interview with AARP, Sarah Jessica Parker revealed that both twins had become Girl Scout Brownies. Although Parker had the girls wearing a lot of hand-me-downs, she couldn't convince them to sport the retro Brownie uniforms she discovered on Etsy. But Tabitha possibly could have created her own. In a 2020 Instagram post, Parker revealed that her daughter knows her way around a sewing machine and included photos of some of her daughter's designs — a smock dress with pockets and a matching cloth face mask.
Loretta also has a sharp sartorial eye and has played stylist for her mom. "Loretta moved my sweater the other day because it was ripped and falling apart," Parker told the New York Post in 2017. In addition to helping her mom make sure that she looks presentable in public, Loretta also possesses a talent for drawing, as evidenced by the festive reindeer picture which SJP shared on Instagram in 2019.
A year later, Parker told CBS News that one of her daughters had expressed an interest in acting but didn't reveal which one. She also said that it wasn't the twin's top career choice. "She did clarify that the other day, and said she wants to get her degree in education 'cause she really wants to be a teacher," Parker recalled. "And I said, 'That's a fine and good idea. And then you can always go to acting school.'"
How they pleasantly surprised their mom
In 2019, Sarah Jessica Parker told ET that the stresses of motherhood had given her a greater appreciation for one of life's simple pleasures. "I love a glass of wine at night, I love it," she said. "I never thought that would be something I would say. It took me a really long time to understand the benefits."
But while parenting can sometimes make a mom want to grab the pinot, Parker's daughters clearly adore her. When they were in sixth grade, Tabitha and Loretta Broderick participated in a family tradition that many young tweens at least act disinterested in — hunting for Easter eggs. "They still want to do this. And it's still always a surprise. But they know I'm hiding them. And that there isn't bunny involved," Parker wrote on Instagram. A few months later, she shared a cute message for the twins ahead of their final summer as grade schoolers, writing, "Sisters, take the battery out of your alarm clock!"
Parker was tickled pink again later that year when she witnessed the twins' reactions to her Vogue cover. "Both my daughters' hands went to their mouths, and they were like, 'Mama! You're on the cover of Vogue?'" SJP said in a video for the magazine. It seems that Tabitha Broderick was an avid reader of the fashion mag, as she made an astute observation about the cover. "She said, 'Mama, there's no writing on that magazine. Usually, it's so busy,'" Parker recalled.
They attended the Hocus Pocus 2 premiere
In 2022, Sarah Jessica Parker delighted fans of the spooky season by reprising her role as the slow-witted witch Sarah Sanderson in the movie "Hocus Pocus 2." Tabitha and Loretta Broderick joined Parker at the film's premiere, where the then-13-year-olds proved once again that they're style stars like their mom. Tabitha Broderick wore a witchy black frock with a square neckline and long sleeves, while Loretta rocked a sleeveless metallic dress that sparkled like a starlit sky. Both girls supported their mom's business by wearing SJP Collection heels.
At the event, Parker revealed that she didn't introduce her daughters to the original "Hocus Pocus" movie. When she decided they were old enough to watch it, she offered to pop in the DVD that Disney had given her many moons earlier. "They were like, 'Oh, yeah, mama, we've seen it, we love that movie,'" Parker recalled to E! News.
Tabitha and Loretta attended events with their mom a few times in 2022. They showed up to support both of their parents on the opening night of the Broadway revival of "Plaza Suite," in which Parker and Matthew Broderick both starred. The twins also attended the opening night of "Some Like It Hot." While they seem to be big Broadway fans, Parker once confessed to feeling some guilt over raising her kids as New Yorkers. "I asked my daughters, 'Would you prefer it if we had space?' And they said, 'No!'" she recalled to The Edit (via Extra).
They changed their minds about being classmates
In a June 2023 appearance on "Live with Kelly and Mark," Matthew Broderick spoke about his daughters' high school preparations, saying, "They're very excited about that. Big step in their lives." When the family began discussing where the twins would go to school, Matthew said that Tabitha and Loretta Broderick were originally adamant about enrolling in different high schools. "When it was time to decide for real, they were like, 'No, we're going to the same high school,'" he recalled. The actor explained their conflicting feelings by saying, "They're extremely close, but definitely want their own space and their own friends and their own time."
Matthew also revealed that Tabitha and Loretta were being a tad kinder to their dad than their mom during their teen years, but according to Sarah Jessica Parker, her husband once assured her that this is not an indication that they love her less. "He says, 'But that is a badge of honor. They do that because they feel safe, and you are really the most important person in their life,'" she recalled to AARP.
Kelly Ripa assured Matthew that his daughters are always well-behaved around her, even when their parents aren't present. In a 2020 Instagram exchange with SJP, Ripa also praised the girls' cooking skills, revealing that she ate two slices of a cake they baked for an event Parker was unable to attend (via Hello!). "They did it from scratch," Parker proudly boasted.
SJP doesn't know if her daughters will watch SATC
In June 2023, James Wilkie Broderick told ET that he's never watched "Sex and the City," but he's seen some of his mom's work on the show's revival, "And Just Like That..." He said of the newer series, "I liked it but then I felt weird, 'cause I haven't watched the original." However, he is open to watching "SATC" now that he's an adult. That same month, Sarah Jessica Parker told Extra that Tabitha and Loretta Broderick were about to turn 14 without having watched their mom's hit series. "It's not been something that's crossed their viewing radar, and perhaps it never will," she said. "I understand that. They are aware of the show to the degree that they are interested. It's not a paramount topic in their lives."
The twins may never learn the stories behind some of the iconic outfits that their mom rocks on "SATC," but Parker has said that they will inherit most of the contents of Carrie Bradshaw's closet. She told ET that she possesses at least two-thirds of the clothing Carrie wore on the show. However, Parker doesn't want her daughters' focus to be on the material items that she can offer them. "What I like to share with them is being curious has rewards and they don't come immediately," she said. "What I want to tell them is curiosity is the gateway to all sorts of things you might never have imagined."