--- title: Adele Opens Up About Struggle With Postpartum Depression description: Adele opened up about her personal life, discussing her battle with postpartum depression and how having a child has changed her life canonical: https://time.com/4551846/adele-postpartum-depression-son/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-31T18:03:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:31:41.288Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Adele Opens Up About Struggle With Postpartum Depression og:description: "I felt very inadequate" og:url: https://time.com/4551846/adele-postpartum-depression-son/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta66622a91095d310/6988ac43e20a878df9a93077/adele-vanity-fair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Adele In Concert - Auburn Hills, Michigan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Adele Opens Up About Struggle With Postpartum Depression twitter:description: "I felt very inadequate" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta66622a91095d310/6988ac43e20a878df9a93077/adele-vanity-fair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Adele Opens Up About Her Postpartum Depression: 'I Felt Very Inadequate'  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 31, 2016 6:03 PM UTC  Adele performs at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Sept. 6, 2016. Adele performs at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Sept. 6, 2016.Scott Legato—Getty Images for BT PR  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 31, 2016 6:03 PM UTC [Adele](http://time.com/4497179/adele-amy-winehouse-tribute/) is [famously private](http://time.com/4298223/adele-2016-time-100/), preferring to keep her personal life — specifically her relationships with longtime boyfriend Simon Konecki and their son Angelo — separate from her life as an international superstar. But in a new profile for [_Vanity Fair_](http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/10/adele-cover-story), the 28-year-old singer opened up about the years she spent largely removed from the public eye between albums _21_ and [_25_](http://time.com/4128930/adeles-25-no-1-record-sales/?xid=homepage), discussing her battle with postpartum depression and how having a child changed her life. “I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me,” the singer told _Vanity Fair_, and went on to elaborate. “My knowledge of postpartum — or postnatal, as we call it in England — is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job,” she said. “But I was _obsessed_ with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life … It can come in many different forms.” And although she has since recovered from her bout with the depressive condition, she said she still struggles with maintaining a work-life balance that feels right to her. “I’m enjoying touring, but at times I feel guilty because I’m doing this massive tour, and even though my son is with me all the time, on certain nights I can’t put him to bed,” she explained. “I never feel guilty when I’m _not_ working. You’re constantly trying to make up for stuff when you’re a mom. I don’t mind, because of the love I feel for him … I don’t care if I don’t ever get to do anything for myself again.” Read more at [VanityFair.com](http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/10/adele-cover-story). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4551846/adele-postpartum-depression-son/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4551846/adele-postpartum-depression-son/"},"headline":"Adele Opens Up About Her Postpartum Depression: 'I Felt Very Inadequate'","datePublished":"2016-10-31T18:03:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:31:41.288Z","description":"She gave birth to her son in 2012","url":"https://time.com/4551846/adele-postpartum-depression-son/","keywords":["celebrities","Music","singers","Adele"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta66622a91095d310/6988ac43e20a878df9a93077/adele-vanity-fair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta66622a91095d310/6988ac43e20a878df9a93077/adele-vanity-fair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Adele In Concert - Auburn Hills, Michigan","caption":"Singer/songwriter Adele performs at The Palace of Auburn Hills on September 6, 2016 in Auburn Hills, Michigan.","creditText":"Scott Legato—Getty Images for BT PR","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4551846/adele-postpartum-depression-son/","name":"Adele Opens Up About Her Postpartum Depression: 'I Felt Very Inadequate'"}}]}] ```