The Sex And The City star claimed that she now felt '

She said that she plays a keen role in the lives of her nieces and nephews

The Sex And The City star, who has been married three times, said she finds the term 'childless' offensive.

Miss Cattrall, 59, believes that although she is not a biological mother, she is still a parent because of the role she plays in the lives of young actors, actresses and her nieces and nephews.

Speaking as the guest editor on BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour, in an episode that will air today [Mon], she said: 'I am not a biological parent, but I am a parent. I have young actors and actresses that I mentor, I have nieces and nephews that I am very close to.

Miss Cattrall, who played man-eating character Samantha Jones in the hit show, said she now feels 'romantically retired'

'There is a way to become a mother in this day and age which doesn't include your name on the child's birth certificate. You can express that maternal side, very clearly, very strongly. It feels very satisfying.'

She said that she 'didn't change nappies' but she did help her niece though medical school and sat down with her nephew when he was going through 'a very tough time' to join the army.

The actress added: 'And those are very motherly things to do, very nurturing things to do. So I feel I am a mother of sorts.'

Miss Cattrall, who played man-eating character Samantha Jones in the hit show, said she now feels 'romantically retired'.

As a fledgling 19-year-old actress, she married Canadian writer Larry Davis, but it lasted only a year and was later annulled.

She then married Andre J Lyson at the age of 26, but they divorced after seven years together. Her marriage at 42 to jazz bassist Mark Levinson lasted six years until they split in 2004.

The actress told the show how she dislikes the term 'childless'.

She said: 'It's the 'less' that is offensive - childless - it sounds like you're less because you haven't had a child.

'I think for a lot of women from my generation it wasn't a conscious choice. It was a feeling of, 'Well, I'm on this road and things are going really well, I'm really happy, I'll do it next year, I'll do it two years, I'll do it in five years'.

Kim Cattrall said that she 'didn't change nappies' but she did help her niece though medical school and sat down with her nephew when he was going through 'a very tough time' to join the army.

'And then suddenly you're in your early 40s and you think, 'Maybe now?' And you go to your doctor and she says, 'Yes we can do this but you have to start to become a bit of a science experiment here because we have to find out how you can stay pregnant'.

'And I just thought, 'I don't know if I want it that much'.'

Miss Cattrall is currently single and conceded that some men may be too intimidated to ask her out.

When asked by host Jane Garvey how easy it is to chat her up, Miss Cattrall replied: 'I would say it's pretty impossible.

'I'm not your average single woman. I come with, as all men and women of a certain age, they come with baggage.'

'It's hard for everybody. To be single at this age is really difficult, because you know so much more about what you want and what you don't want and what you'll put up with and you've been there and done that so many times at this point. I have anyway.

'I feel in that area, romantically, retired.'

The Woman's Hour Takeover week begins with Kim Cattrall on BBC Radio 4 today [Mon] at 10am.