Porn Moms: Photo Essay Explores Motherhood in Adult Industry

A new, online essay by photographer Mary Beth Koeth, in collaboration with writer Laura Lee Huttenbach, explores an intimate aspect of the life of a porn performer rarely seen or discussed in or anywhere near their work—motherhood. Koeth’s photo essay “Porn Moms” takes a compassionate look at the relationships between women in the adult industry and their children. The project, viewable on Koeth’s personal site, began when the photographer attended the 2017 Exxxotica Expo in New Jersey. There, she met Emily Mena, a performer who had a four-year-old daughter, with a son on the way. At first, Koeth said, “I was intimidated by this project because I didn’t know how I would find subjects, or if these women would be open to sharing their stories.” But she found that Mena was attracted to the idea that “someone wanted to tell her real story, rather than the narrative of fantasy.” The actress became Koeth’s first subject—finding that her description of life as a mom would be highly familiar to any mother of a young child. “I’m a chauffeur,” she told Koeth and Huttenbach, describing her life off of the porn set as a constant shuttle between “soccer, gymnastics, swimming, and sometimes dance.”  But though her ambition is to make the transition as an actress to mainstream Hollywood, she is also considering pursuing a degree in nursing, because “being in the adult industry kind of hurts you a little bit, so who knows.” Performer Cameron Canela told Koeth that she had never seen herself as a mom. In fact, “I didn’t want to be a mom. I actually didn’t like kids at all.” But when she became pregnant with her now-newborn son,  “I immediately felt connected.” When the baby was born, “I just felt like I became a whole new person in the coolest way. As cliché as it sounds, your heart just grows immediately.” She also found a transition in her self-image, from “who I was in the adult industry” to “having more of a conservative image and being a mom. That’s been the biggest transition for me, just realizing that there’s still a whole other side of me.”  While motherhood has given most of the women in Koeth’s project mixed feelings about their porn careers, they’ve also found that at least in terms of scheduling, the job integrates well with parenting responsibilities.  “Then they have those days off, which you wouldn’t get in a normal job, where they’re able to take care of their kids and spend time with them,” Koeth said.  Photo by Mary Beth Koeth / MBKoeth.com