19 Stars Who Chose To Stay Child-Free And Have No Regrets

There was a time in pop culture when celebrity maternity shoots were all the rage, and fans were obsessed with seeing their favorite stars embrace parenthood (I’m looking at you, Beyoncé). And while that was a wholesome interaction, there have been celebrities who have firmly spoken about not wanting children—though they received unwarranted backlash for their decisions. Some of these celebrities had very personal reasons, and others had practical ones, but in the end, they all made sense!

Here are 20 famous stars who have chosen not to have children, and were brutally honest about it:

1. Alison Brie and Dave Franco, the actors who starred together in the recent horror film Together, got married in March 2017. And ever since, they have graced our screens with their impeccable acting and adorable chemistry. About deciding not to have kids, the actress spoke to The Sunday Times, saying, “I don’t really want to have kids. It’s great because I don’t worry about when I should get pregnant—between seasons, while we’re shooting the show—I don’t think about it every day.” She continued saying, “It would be nice, but I think of all the things that would be so stressful. I think about how much we’re involved in our cats’ lives. Oh my God, if it were a child!”

She further described her marriage with the actor as “super-mellow,” saying that they mostly spend time together and hang out. While speaking on the closing scene of the film Together, that showed Franco and Brie’s bodies fusing together, Franco jokingly told USA Today, “If that’s what we look like when we’re fused together, maybe that’s further reinforcement that we should not have children.”

2. Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller have been together since 2004 and got married in 2011. Over the years, the comedian-actor has spoken about his decision to be child-free and how he enjoys spending time with his wife. In an interview with Esquire in 2025, the actor reiterated, “You should only have kids if you really want kids, and we just don’t really want kids. Time kept going by, and the moment where we were like ‘Let’s do it!’ just kept not happening.” He continued further, saying, “I look at my friends with kids, and honestly, I feel like some of them are incredibly happy and fulfilled, and some of them seem like maybe they wish they had put a little more thought into it. I just didn’t want to be one of those people.”

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The actor has famously been pretty upfront about his reasoning for not wanting kids, and while some appreciate his honesty, he has faced quite some online backlash. Speaking on the backlash, he said, “People really had strong takes on it, being like, fuck this fucking guy. Who the fuck does he think he is not to have kids?” Adding on to it, he said, “Well, if you hate me that much, why do you want more of me?”

3. Dolly Parton, the iconic country superstar who recently passed away at the age of 80, was outspoken about her choice to never have children. She and her husband, Carl Dean, had spent over 60 years together. And the two of them had always spoken candidly about this over the years, with Parton explaining why she came to understand that part of her life. In an interview on TODAY in 2017, she said, “God has a plan for everything. I think it was probably his plan for me not to have kids so everybody’s kids could be mine. And they are now.”

The couple was very much independent in their relationship, with Parton touring around the country while Dean spent time out of the spotlight. Over the years, the singer has been involved with millions of less privileged kids through her Imagination Library, which gifted hundreds of books to children up until the age of five.

Previously, in an 1984 interview with Interview Magazine, she said, “I couldn’t have children, I tried to for years. I’ve never been pregnant in my life. When I was a girl and fooling around, I was scared to death I’d get pregnant, and then when I got married and wanted to have children, I couldn’t have any. But I don’t miss it. I did for a while, but I realized that I am everybody’s mother. I’ve raised five of my younger brothers and sisters, and now their kids call me Aunt Grannie. I’m like the grandma and the aunt.”

4. Miley Cyrus, just like her godmother Dolly Parton, is child-free by choice. She told Elle magazine that climate change has been a major concern for her when it comes to having kids. She said, “We’ve been doing the same thing to the earth that we do to women. We just keep taking and expect it to keep producing…And it’s exhausted. It can’t produce. We’re getting handed a piece-of-s*** planet, and I refuse to hand that down to my child.” She said she would only consider becoming a mother if she felt like her child would “live on an earth with fish in the water.”

5. Oprah Winfrey, one of the richest and most famous women on the planet, has candidly spoken about her decision not to have kids with her long-time partner, Stedman Graham. They have been together since 1986, and got engaged in 1992 (although they never chose to marry). Speaking to People magazine, Winfrey discussed the prospect of getting pregnant and her marriage. She said, “At one point in Chicago, I had bought an additional apartment because I was thinking, ‘Well, if we get married, I’m going to need room for children.'” Later, speaking on the immense responsibility of raising children, she said, “I don’t have the ability to compartmentalize the way I see other women do. It is why, throughout my years, I have had the highest regard for women who choose to be at home with their kids, because I don’t know how you do that all day long.”

She added that both she and her partner now believe that if they were to get married, they would not be together. She reiterated, “No question about it—we would not stay married, because of what that would have meant to him, and I would have had my own ideas about it.”

When asked if she had any regrets, she firmly stated that she had not “one regret about that.” She continued saying, “I also believe that part of the reason why I don’t have regrets is that I got to fulfill it in the way that was best for me: the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Those girls fill that maternal fold that I perhaps would have had. In fact, they overfill—I’m overflowed with maternal.”

6. Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb are well-known for their superb acting and iconic films. They have been together for 19 years, having started their relationship in October 2007. They have chosen not to marry or have children and have been pretty candid about their decision. Rockwell first commented on the subject during the press tour for his 2007 film Joshua. He told The Guardian, “I definitely don’t want to become a parent. It’s not my bag.” He continued, “It’s weird, I don’t get children. I don’t quite understand it. I think being an only child means you learn to live in your own world. It’s a survival thing.”

He further stated that he felt “children are a lot of work” and that he has a lot of respect for parents, but feels that he has too much to do.

Bibb also spoke on the subject on the Open Book podcast, saying, “I don’t want kids. It’s not a child I have, and the mom I would want to be, I’m not sure I can be.”

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7. Mary J. Blige, the Queen of R&B, has been very vocal about her views on motherhood. Back in 2022, she said she liked her freedom and liked “being able to get up and go and move and do what I want to do. I don’t want to have to tend to someone all the time.” While she does not have any children of her own, she was previously a stepmother to her ex-husband Kendu Isaacs’ three children. She reflected on her role as a stepmother in 2007 and said that while she loved them, she was not too sure about having her own. In 2009, during an interview with People, she said, “I don’t think I’ll do foster care or adopt, to be quite honest. I barely have time for my own children. To adopt more children and not have time for them, that would be poor parenting on my part.”

In a 2022 interview with E! Daily Pop, when asked if she had any regrets, she immediately said, “Oh, I’m not there yet, so I’m good.” She continued to say, “I have nieces and nephews forever, and I’m always watching how people are scrambling around for babysitters. I don’t want to go through that.” In 2026, she did mention that while she feels a bit lonely, she was ultimately happy with her life.

8. Betty White, the legendary actress, never had biological children, but she was a stepmother to her third husband’s three children. She married Allen Ludden in 1963, and she loved being a stepmother to David, Martha, and Sarah. However, in a 2012 CBS interview, she said that she was content that she never had her own. She said, “No, I’ve never regretted it. I’m so compulsive about stuff, I know if I had ever gotten pregnant, of course, that would have been my whole focus. But I didn’t choose to have children because I’m focused on my career. And I just don’t think as compulsive as I am that I could manage both.”

9. Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally met while working together in the play The Berlin Circle in 2000 and got married in 2003. Even though they did try to have a child, they have expressed that they never felt a strong calling toward parenthood. In an interview with GQ in 2017, Mullally said, “I never had a burning desire to have children. But then I met Nick, and I thought, ‘This is the only person I’d do this with.’ We tried for about a year or so, and it didn’t happen, and we took that to mean it wasn’t meant to be.” The actor also spoke about the matter on the Bullseye With Jesse Thorn podcast in 2025. He said, “I feel like, at the moment, there is a loud conservative voice that says if you’re not contributing children to your voting bloc, you should be exterminated or something.”

He continued to say, “But I feel like it’s a very subjective thing. I have three siblings. They all have daughters…I met Megan later, and we chose to be the kids in our household, and it’s been really fun and gratifying, and we have kids in our lives that we can contribute to when we feel bereft in any way.” The two actors have not expressed any regret about how things turned out, and it’s all for the best!

10. Pedro Pascal, the actor who took the internet by storm for his “zaddy” aura during the promo of The Last of Us, has actually shown very little interest in becoming a father. While speaking on the “zaddy” or “daddy” phenomenon at The Hollywood Reporter roundtable, he said, “Yeah, I am having fun with it. It seems a little role-related. There was a period when the Mandalorian was very daddy to baby Grogu, and Joel was very daddy to Ellie. These are daddy parts. That’s what it is.” Following this, he quickly reiterated, “I’m not a daddy, and I’m not going to be a daddy.” In another interview with Wired, he gave a vaguer answer when asked if he wanted children. He said, “I don’t know. I avoid all of it by not having kids. And staying out of relationships.”

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11. John Cena is one of the many celebrities who have been candid about being child-free. He married Shay Shariatzadeh in 2020 in a private ceremony. He candidly spoke about parenthood during an appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast. He said, “I have a certain curiosity about life, and I also know the investment that it takes. And my biggest fear is, as someone who’s driven — many times stubborn and selfish — I try to approach the world with kindness and curiosity, but I don’t think I’m personally ready, nor will I ever be, to invest the time it needs to be a great parent because I want to live life for all it is.”

In another recent appearance at a Boston fan convention in 2025, he answered a question about whether he was “looking forward” to welcoming kids one day. He answered, “From the information that I’ve gathered, you’ve kinda got to look after them. I’ll just give you a small insight into my life. I have been working straight for 43 days now, and I’ve got another 20 to go. So if I were to bring a life into this world that needs environmental nurture and unconditional love, I also know that takes time.” He further explained his thoughts emphasizing that he does not want to make an “irresponsible choice and bring a life into the world that I will neglect.”

12. The British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais has repeatedly expressed why he doesn’t want to have children. He has been with his long-term girlfriend Jane Fallow since 1982. In January 2022, the comedian was promoting his Netflix show Afterlife on a podcast when Pope Francis’ comment that “having pets over children is selfish” sparked a conversation. Gervais offered his own insight on the comment, saying, “How can not having children be selfish? It doesn’t make sense. How can it be selfish not to bring something into the world that doesn’t exist on any level?” He continued saying, “I don’t have kids for many reasons, but one is that there is enough. No one is going, ‘Gervais isn’t having kids! We’re going to run out soon.'”

In 2019, he also said on The Ellen Show, “I’d worry sick about a baby. I have a cat, and I worry about that. I check the door three times before I go out. I put food and water in every room in case the door closes, and he’s peckish for 20 minutes.”

The couple has always been firm in their decision to be child-free, and many appreciate their reasoning.

13. Ina and Jeffrey Garten are among the most prominent couples in entertainment and academia. Ina Garten is a famous cookbook author and the host of the show Barefoot Contessa, and Jeffrey Garten is an American economist and former U.S. government official. Over the 60 years of their relationship, the couple has not had kids, and they have no regrets. On the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast, Ina spoke on the matter, saying, “I mean, it’s amazing to me that I made that decision so young and that, thank God, Jeffrey was okay with it. I just can’t imagine my life any other way. I’ve done what I wanted to do. I’ve had just a wonderful time.”

When she appeared on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast, Wiser Than Me, she spoke about her relationship with her husband and their decision. She said, “I think Jeffrey would have been a great parent. He would have really loved having children, but he wanted me to be happy, and it was okay with him.”

She added, “I had no interest in having children. None. I just had a terrible childhood, and it was nothing I wanted to recreate.”

14. Cameron Diaz and her husband, Benji Madden, have been known for keeping their relationship private. But in 2014, she spoke with Esquire Magazine about not having children. She said, “It’s so much more work to have children. To have lives besides your own that you are responsible for—I didn’t take that on. That did make things easier for me. A baby—that’s all day, every day for 18 years.” While the actress said it was a tough choice, she does not regret it. She added, “I like protecting people, but I was never drawn to being a mother. I have it much easier than any of them. That’s just what it is.”

15. Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren has stated quite firmly that she has no regrets whatsoever about not having a family of her own. She married director Taylor Hackford in 1997, but they never had kids. In 2014, she told AARP, “I never felt the need for a child and never felt the loss of it. I’d always put my work before anything.” She even jokingly mentioned that before meeting her husband, the idea of marriage seemed to be like a “voluntary imprisonment”—they have been happily married for 29 years.

16. Gloria Steinem, the most prominent feminist icon of our generation, passed away on September 2, 2026. Throughout her career, she criticized the traditional expectations that marriage had placed on women. While she did get married, she did not have kids, and in 2020, she shared that she never regretted her decision. She appeared on the podcast How to Fail and said, “People assume I must be unhappy or unfulfilled. Not everyone, but some people, I think, assume that…in a way that they wouldn’t assume about a man.”

In another interview with Chelsea Handler in 2011, she said, “Everybody does not have to live in the same way. As somebody said, “Everybody with a womb doesn’t have to have a child any more than everybody with vocal cords has to be an opera singer.”” When she was asked by Handler in another interview in 2016 if she regretted not having kids, she answered, “Not for a millisecond, I have to say. I mean, it’s a choice. And it’s a wonderful choice. But if everybody has to do it, it’s no longer a choice.”

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17. Stevie Nicks, the singer-songwriter of the popular rock band Fleetwood Mac, has spoken about her complicated relationship with motherhood. In 1979, when the band was at its peak of success, she became pregnant and chose to have an abortion. In 2020, when speaking to The Guardian, she said, “If I had not had that abortion, I’m pretty sure there would have been no Fleetwood Mac. There’s just no way that I could have had a child then, working as hard as we worked constantly.”

She later said that she and her fellow band singer-songwriter, Christine McVie, decided not to become mothers. She said, “I knew that the music we were going to bring to the world was going to heal so many people’s hearts and make people so happy. And I thought: you know what? That’s really important. There’s not another band in the world that has two lead women singers, two lead women writers. That was my world’s mission.”

18. Chelsea Handler is child-free by choice and has been vocal about her decision. She currently does not have a partner. Even though she does not have children, she signed up for parenting classes to be a better aunt to her eight nieces and nephews. On the Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky podcast, she explained, “I just wanted to understand the psychology of children to do a better job at whatever my role is.” The actress said that she is close to her friend’s children, and the classes helped her help them when they were struggling. She added that not being a parent opened her heart even more to children.

She said, “I have so much bandwidth, because I don’t have children, to spread the love and the joy and the happiness.” Continuing, she said, “There’s an unsung story about people who don’t have children, whether it’s by choice or by circumstance, that there are so many opportunities to have children in your life and you have to find those.” She stated that it was one of the best decisions of her life and she is very happy.

19. Tracee Ellis Ross, now 53, has never been married or had children. And she has spoken candidly about it over the years. While giving a speech at a Glamour event in 2017, she said, “I have built an incredible life. I have become a woman that I am proud to be. And then someone tells me about their friend who adopted a child at 52 and how ‘it’s never too late for your life to have meaning,’ and my worth gets diminished as I am reminded that I have ‘failed’ on the marriage and carriage counts.” In 2024, as she joined Kamala Harris’s Unite for America Rally, she gave an empowering speech on how Kamala and Oprah Winfrey represented childfree women.

She said, “Because, as a childless woman, I wanna say to the people who think a woman’s worth is measured in her baby count — I mean, shoutout to all the amazing mothers — but childless women have been mothering the world and elevating the world as aunties, godmothers, teachers, mentors, sisters, and friends.” She added, “The list goes on. You do not have to push out a baby to help push humanity forward!” In a The New York Times event, she reiterated her decision on not having children by saying that she does not believe her life is “unworthy because I don’t have children.”

20. Bill Maher, the popular television host and comedian, has also opened up about his decision to be child-free. While speaking to social media personality Sophie Rain on the Club Random Podcast in 2026, he said, “I made it to 70 and never had kids. Marriage, kids, I always got it. No, whatever shit you are in now, and however bad you are feeling, that is the fire from the frying pan. For me, not for everybody. I mean, a lot of people, of course, I always say, even celebrities have kids. There must be something to it.” He has reaffirmed his decision to stay child-free and has shared his thoughts on parenting, especially gentle parenting, and how parents need to discipline their children.

It was indeed refreshing to read why these celebrities chose to be child-free and how similar their mindsets are to those of other couples who ponder this decision. Society needs a reminder that having a child is a choice, not an obligation. Who are some other celebrities who have spoken publicly about being child-free? Let us know in the comments!

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