The celebrated actor Michael J. Fox says that becoming a father is his favorite part. After more than 30 years of marriage, Tracy Pollan and I have four kids together. Fox said in a lighthearted way to Reader’s Digest that there are moments when it feels like five.

Fox stresses the value of being accessible to his kids at all times, saying, “Always be available to your kids.” For example, if you say, “Give me five minutes, give me ten,” it will actually be fifteen or twenty. And whatever it was they wanted to impart with you will have faded by the time you arrive.

Fox, who received a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 1991, expressed gratitude to his kids for their fortitude and kindness. He frequently shares on Instagram how close he is to them. “Our children are beautiful, sensitive, intelligent, empathetic, independent, compassionate, adventurous, lovely people,” he wrote to Pollan on Mother’s Day in 2022. You are to blame for that.

Aquinnah and Schuyler, Fox’s twins, are employed in the media and in education, while Sam, the eldest son, works in entertainment. Esmé, his youngest, attends Duke University. Fox has raised almost $2 billion for Parkinson’s research and continues to dedicate his life to the cause.