Michelle Obama Claims Men Would Award Trophies for Childbirth

Former First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Sharon Stone turned a discussion about women’s health into a series of jokes at men’s expense, imagining a world in which male pregnancy would bring easy abortion access, trophies for childbirth and financial rewards for parental leave.

The exchange unfolded Wednesday on Obama’s “IMO” podcast, which she co-hosts with her older brother, Craig Robinson. The episode, “Living Unapologetically with Sharon Stone,” featured a wide-ranging conversation with the 68-year-old actress.

What began as criticism of shortcomings in women’s health education eventually became a political and cultural riff on how men supposedly would change the rules if they experienced pregnancy.

Stone described growing up without sufficient guidance about menstruation and reproductive health.

“No one told me, like, this is how you have your period,” she said.

She also raised concerns about tampon research and argued that women’s medical needs historically had received less scientific attention than men’s. The discussion expanded to abortion restrictions and treatment for pregnancy complications before Stone delivered the line that sent the conversation in a different direction.

“If men could be pregnant, you could get an abortion from a vending machine,” Stone joked.

Obama laughed and offered her own version of the hypothetical, suggesting that men would turn childbirth into a competitive spectacle.

“There would be the birth-Olympics,” she said.

“Men would film themselves going into labor and honoring their pain, you know?” Obama continued.

The former first lady imagined male childbirth becoming a public demonstration of endurance, complete with recognition and prizes.

“There would be trophies given,” she said.

Obama then acted out congratulating an imaginary man named Bob for giving birth without pain medication.

“Well done, dude!” she exclaimed.

“Bob, you did that without an epidural!” she added.

The joke portrayed men as eager to celebrate their own suffering in ways the women suggested are not extended to mothers. It also shifted the discussion away from particular research or policy failures and toward broad assumptions about male behavior.

Stone followed with a suggestion that workplace benefits would look very different if men gave birth.

“Maternity leave would be when you got the bonus,” she said.

“There you go!” Obama responded.

“Right?” she continued, adding, “You win, win.”

For Robinson, seated between the two women, the conversation appeared to have run its course. He attempted an exaggerated diversion.

“Hey, what’s that over there?” he asked, pointing away.

He then asked Stone how she had ended up living in New York, introducing a new subject.

Stone immediately recognized the effort and supplied her own narration of his reaction.

“Craig’s like, I’ve had it with this conversation, moving on,” she joked.

“Moving on!” Stone added as Obama continued laughing.

Obama used her brother’s attempted transition as another opportunity to comment on men’s engagement with women’s concerns.

“This is why we don’t get help, you know?” she said.

“They’re like, ‘Well, I’m bored with this conversation. Let’s talk about sports,’” Obama continued.

Robinson objected to the characterization, pointing out that his question had concerned Stone’s move to New York.

“I didn’t switch to sports,” he said.

“Not yet, not yet,” Obama replied.

“We were just getting started, weren’t we, Sharon?” she added before the conversation eventually moved on.

The exchange drew coverage because it combined politically sensitive questions about abortion and health care with a familiar premise: that men would make institutions more accommodating if the burdens being discussed fell on them.

Stone’s vending-machine remark reduced the abortion debate to a claim about whose convenience drives policy. Obama’s imagined trophies and recorded labor performances extended that argument into a caricature of how men seek recognition.

For a conservative audience, the weakness in that framing is that it sidesteps the substantive disagreements involved. Opposition to abortion, for example, cannot be explained solely as indifference toward women’s experiences; it also rests on convictions about unborn life and moral responsibility.

Likewise, questions about medical research, workplace leave and support for mothers warrant more than assumptions that men would solve every problem if they personally experienced pregnancy.

The remarks were plainly hypothetical and delivered as comedy. Neither woman was presenting evidence that the imagined policies or behavior would follow from such a scenario.

Still, the distinction between a joke and a factual claim does not remove the message behind the humor. Obama and Stone used the hypothetical to argue that women’s pain and needs receive less attention—and made men the target of that argument.

The episode reflects Obama’s growing use of her podcast to address cultural, family and personal subjects beyond formal political appearances. In this instance, the most attention-grabbing portion was a health discussion that became a mock awards ceremony for pregnant men, followed by a jab at the one man attempting to change the subject.