Kim Cattrall says it's offensive to be called 'childless'

LONDON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Kim Cattrall explained her aversion to being called "childless" in an interview Monday.

The 59-year-old English-Canadian actress shared her dislike for the term with the Women's Hour on BBC Radio in 4. Cattrall was thrice-married, but told host Jane Garvey her partner and timing were never right for motherhood.

"It's the 'less' that's offensive," she said. "'Childless.' It sounds like you're 'less' because you haven't had a child. I think for a lot of women from my generation, it wasn't actually a conscious choice. It was a feeling of, 'Well, I'm on this road and things are going really well.'"

"[I'm] not a biological parent, but I am a parent," she declared. "I have young actors and actresses that I mentor, I have nieces and nephews that I am very close to ... There is a way to become a mother in this day and age that doesn't include your name on the child's birth certificate. You can express that maternal side of you, very clearly, very strongly."

Cattrall previously discussed her choice to not have children with O magazine, saying parenthood "just isn't part of [her] experience this time around." The star said she focuses instead on giving "birth to ideas and ways of experiencing life that challenge the norm."

The actress is best known for portraying Samantha Jones on HBO series Sex and the City, and went on to voice Dee on the animated sitcom Producing Parker. She currently plays Davina Jackson on HBO Canada drama Sensitive Skin, which was renewed for a second season in December.