Falling in love with Ryan Gosling made Eva Mendes want kids

Eva Medes says falling in love with partner Ryan Gosling changed her perspective towards having kids. In an interview with Women's Health magazine, Mendes said she had no plans to experience motherhood before the couple started dating.

"Ryan Gosling happened. I mean, falling in love with him. Then it made sense for me to have not kids, but his kids. It was very specific to him," Mendes said.

The duo started dating after working on "The Place Beyond the Pines" in 2011.

They now have two daughters, Esmeralda and Amada, who are four and two years old, respectively.

Mendes said as parents they are just getting out of "survival mode" and lauded her "amazing support group" for helping them out with the kids.

"Ryan's (mother), my (mother), Ryan's and my sisters. It's a village that helped u. My heart goes out to women who do this alone. I basically come from a single-parent household; although I love my dad, my mum mostly raised four of us on her own," she said.

The star said opposed to her career, her biggest drive at the moment are her two daughters

"(I) felt a lack of ambition when I became a mother and now I feel more ambitious in the home right now than I do in the workplace."

"Every day is such a learning experience they challenge you in so many ways. Like, I'm their mom. I have to rise up, and hopefully, most of the time I do, but sometimes it's definitely maddening," she added.