‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Ellen Pompeo aims to inspire her daughters and son

Ellen Pompeo’s children are her whole world.

The Grey’s Anatomy star has been married to music producer Chris Ivery since 2007, and together they share three kids: Stella Luna, 14, Sienna May, 9, and Eli Christopher, 6.

After stepping back from her role on Grey’s Anatomy, Pompeo said she is “super happy” and looking forward to spending more time with her children. “I have three kids and so I take care of them, and it’s really important for me to be around for them and be more present for them,” she told Drew Barrymore in December 2022.

Though the actress has been very private about her family life, she has opened up about them on occasion. Speaking with PEOPLE in 2016, Pompeo discussed the importance of role models and that she makes a point to expose her daughters to “beautiful, powerful, strong Black women,” whether it’s in magazines or on TV.

“My daughters are Black so it’s very important to me that they see a lot of images of beautiful, powerful, strong Black women,” she told PEOPLE. “Every time there is a Black woman on a magazine cover, whether it is Kerry Washington or whoever it is, I make sure that magazine is in my house and on my table. For me, that’s super important.”
Here’s everything to know about Ellen Pompeo’s kids: Stella, Sienna and Eli.

Stella Luna, 14

On Sept. 15, 2009, Pompeo and Ivery welcomed their eldest daughter, Stella Luna. While her mom may play a fake doctor on TV (albeit, a really good one), Stella has shown an interest in medicine from an early age.

“She loves coming to set,” Pompeo said of Stella during a 2015 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “Linda Klein is our medical producer, wonderful woman [and] good friend of mine, and she just wants to go straight to Linda’s office and play with all the medical things.”

Pompeo continued, “Yesterday, I went in to find her [and] she was with Linda with a bone drill, drilling a fake femur bone with a real bone drill. She was supervised, but they have her doing advanced procedures!”

In July 2022, Stella and her younger siblings joined their parents at the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Women’s Show in Italy. All five family members were decked out in Dolce & Gabbana fashions.

Stella joined her mom on the red carpet at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards in January 2024. Pompeo wore a Monique Lhuillier silver shirt paired with a black maxi skirt, while Stella opted for a strapless black jumpsuit.

Sharing a video of her and Stella laughing together before they headed out for the event on Instagram, Pomeo wrote, “Thank you again, to everyone that made this happen yesterday! We had the best night 👯‍♀️.”

Sienna May, 9

Pompeo and Ivery’s second daughter, Sienna May, was born via surrogate in 2014 — although her arrival wasn’t too well-received by her big sister. The excitement of having a sibling wore off fast for Stella, Pompeo shared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

“After three months, she was like, ‘Is she leaving?’ ” the actress recalled in amusement. “I was like, ‘No, no, she’s going to live here.’ And she was like, ‘Oh, okay.’ “

Pompeo continued, “She had about a month where she was not in a good mood. Bad mood every day for a month. And now that passed and now she’s fine.”In 2016, she spoke with PEOPLE about the wisdom she hopes to pass down to her young girls. “We get better with age,” she began. “We should empower each other and have compassion for each other and help each other and feel good about ourselves.”

At just 8 years old, Sienna sat front row at New York Fashion Week with Pompeo. The
mother-daughter duo attended the Michael Kors show in February 2023 and posed for photos hand-in-hand.

Eli Christopher, 6

In 2016, Pompeo and Ivery welcomed their son Eli Christopher. “Chris Ivery just fell a notch. I’ve got a new guy,” the actress captioned a photo of Ivery cradling Eli, confirming their son’s surprise arrival on social media.

The parents don’t post about their children on social media often, but Eli has made a few special appearances on Pompeo’s Instagram. He made his slow dance debut in 2017 and showed off his singing skills in a 2021 post.

While Pompeo was preparing to direct an episode of Grey’s Anatomy in 2017, she did so with her young son in her arms.

“Directing prep with my mentor and my man,” she captioned a black-and-white photo of her reading scripts while holding Eli. The snap also included fellow director and Grey’s costar Debbie Allen.

She shared a rare glimpse of Eli in a TikTok video posted in March 2021, showing him playing basketball on an outdoor court.

The following year, Eli traveled to Italy with his family to attend a couture fashion show. While vacationing there, Pompeo shared a photo of Eli and Ivery posing on a Vespa while wearing matching outfits and wrote, “I miei due grandi Amori ❤️,” which translates to “my two great loves.”