Elon Musk i grimaces they are the first to admit that their relationship was unique.
“There’s no real word for it,” Grimes (b Claire Elise Boucher) said Vanity Fair in March 2022. “I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid. We live in separate houses. We’re best friends. We see each other all the time… We have our own thing and I don’t expect other people to understand.”
Although the couple called it quits that same year, Musk and Grimes welcomed three children during their relationship: son X Æ A-Xii in May 2020, daughter Exa Dark Sideræl by surrogate in December 2021, and son Techno Mechanicus by surrogate in June 2022.
“For a girl, it’s sacrificing your body and your freedom,” Grimes recalled Rolling Stone in March 2020 about pregnancy. “It’s a pretty crazy sacrifice and only half the population has to make it. It was very profound for me when I decided I was going to do it.”
Elon Musk and Grimes dated for four years before calling it quits in 2022. The couple made their red carpet debut in May 2018, shortly after reports of their relationship surfaced. However, it wasn’t always easy for the businessman and the singer. They weathered split rumors and a very public feud with Azealia (…)
Read on to see what Grimes and Musk had to say about parenthood and parenting together:
Elon Musk’s thoughts on fatherhood
After X was born, Musk admitted that Grimes was taking on the role of primary father while his son was a toddler. “Well, babies are just eating and pooping machines, you know?” he said The New York Times in July 2020. “There’s not much I can do right now. Grimes has a much bigger role than I do right now… When the kid gets older, there will be more of a role for me.”
Grimes’ thoughts on motherhood
After splitting from Musk in 2022, Grimes said she was determined to have a healthy co-parenting relationship with her ex as the children continue to grow. “It’s very important to me to have a very good relationship with my children,” he said With cable in August 2023. “I think I understand how to be a good parent to them. Both enforcing discipline and being their friend. Who knows, maybe they’ll resent me and reject the family culture, but I feel like they won’t.”
Their big family goals
After welcoming her second baby with Musk, Grimes expressed her desire to have more children with her partner. “We’ve always wanted at least three or four,” he said Vanity Fair in March 2022. The couple welcomed their third child in June 2022.
His legal battle
In September 2024, Grimes sued Musk regarding parental rights to her three children. According to court documents obtained by Us Weeklythe “Oblivion” singer filed a “petition to establish parental relationship” in San Francisco Superior Court.
While the documents are sealed, a petition to determine parental relationship can be filed to ask a judge to identify a child’s legal parents in the state of California.
Grimes reacts to his son’s visit to the White House
In February 2025, Musk made headlines when he brought X into the Oval Office and included him while delivering remarks alongside President Donald Trump.
After the press conference was widely discussed, Grimes taken to social networks say that he did not know that X would be present at the press conference.
“It shouldn’t be like this in public,” he wrote. “I didn’t see that, thanks (you) for letting me know. But I’m glad you were polite. Sigh.”
Different points of view during co-parenting
In January 2026, Grimes shared a rare insight to the former couple’s co-parenting dynamic when an X user asked if their kids ever get screen time.
“Great debate because the other parent is fine with it, but it’s been pretty much avoided,” he responded, without referring to Musk or his children by name. “If it happens, we focus on great art and ideally slower stuff like (Japanese animation) Ghibli that doesn’t constantly change context.”