‘I never saw that baby’: Katherine Heigl says work schedule prevented her from seeing eldest child

Katherine Heigl talked about her battle with working mom guilt as she remembered fears she wouldn’t bond with daughter Naleigh because of her grueling work schedule.

After adopting a nine-month-old girl from South Korea in 2009, the 44-year-old actress revealed she struggled with juggling motherhood and starred as Izzie Stevens in Grey’s Anatomy.

“I never saw that baby,” the Emmy Award winner said during an appearance on The View. “I was working with three triplets playing my goddaughter, and I spent more time with them than I did with my new daughter.”

Struggle to have it all: Katherine Heigl opened up about her battle with working mom guilt as she recalled fears of not bonding with daughter Naleigh due to her grueling work schedule

While her husband, Josh Kelley, bonded with their eldest, Heigl said she immediately hopped on a plane to film her hit medical drama in Atlanta, Georgia.

Her absence made her “always” fear that “she” had missed out on that chance to really bond with her[Naleigh, now 14]and that she didn’t love me – at that time.’

“When I became a new mom, I was like, ‘I got it.’ I understood. I can handle this,” she recalls. “You know, they told us we can have anything. We can have careers and have families and it’s all going to be great. It will be all right.’

Time lost: After adopting a nine-month-old girl from South Korea in 2009, the 44-year-old actress revealed she struggled to juggle motherhood and starred as Izzie Stevens in Grey’s Anatomy

“I never saw that baby,” the Emmy Award winner said during an appearance on The View. “I was working with three triplets playing my goddaughter, and I spent more time with them than with my new daughter”

Fears: Her absence left her ‘always’ afraid that ‘she’ missed out on that chance to really bond with her[Naleigh, now 14]and that she didn’t love me – at that time’

Heigl and her husband have been married since Adalaide, 10, who was born in Louisiana before having son Joshua Bishop Kelley Jr. welcomed, whom she gave birth to in 2016.

The desire to eventually spend more time with her family influenced her decision to leave Grey’s Anatomy in its sixth season in 2010.

“I started a family and that changed everything,” she shared The Daily Telegraph last year. ‘It changed my desire to work full time. I went on leave for family reasons and just became one [mother], and it changed my whole perspective. That was really the turning point.’

“When I became a new mom, I was like, ‘I got it.’ I understood. I can handle this,” she recalls. “You know, they told us we can have anything. We can have careers and have families and it’s all going to be great. It’s all going to be okay’ (pictured on Grey’s Anatomy)

Mom: Heigl and her husband have since Adalaide, 10, who was born in Louisiana, before having son Joshua Bishop Kelley Jr. welcomed, whom she gave birth to in 2016

She added: “So before I came back, I spoke to again [show runner] Shonda [Rhimes] want to leave. Then I waited at home until I got formal clearance that I was off the show. The rumors that I refused to return were completely untrue.’

Katherine further claimed that she was encouraged to try to balance her career with motherhood in order to stay on the series.

‘[Shonda] wanted to try to figure out how to do both [parenting and Grey’s], and I actually wanted to do both. There was no great way to compromise the work schedule that didn’t negatively affect the crew or the cast,” Katherine added.

Lovers: The couple adopted Naleigh from South Korea when she was nine months old and Adalaide at birth in the US Pictured with her daughters

Her family currently lives a quiet life on a ranch in Utah.

Heigl has faced controversy after controversy throughout her career — which began with minor movie roles in the mid-90s — many of which were sparked by comments she made herself.

While playing the role of Dr. Izzie Stephens in Grey’s Anatomy caused the actress outrage when she declined to run for an Emmy Award in 2008, claiming she hadn’t been “given the material to warrant a nomination.”

Then, in 2009, during an appearance on David Letterman, she berated the show’s producers for making the cast work a 17-hour day, calling them “cruel and mean.”

Baby love: In 2016, they also welcomed their biological son Joshua (left).

Heigl left the show the following year to pursue movie roles, but after scoring a few big hits with comedies like Knocked Up, which she criticized as “a little sexist,” and 27 Dresses, her other onscreen projects underperformed . if not completely flopped, at the box office.

She also struggled to escape her negative reputation – even leading her to be labeled “the most hated actress in Hollywood” in some forums.

Katherine has recently made a comeback and is currently starring in the Netflix series Firefly Lane, which was recently renewed for a second season.