25 Celebrities Who Have Decided Never To Have Kids, And Their Reasons Are Truly Enlightening

    Let's hear from the child-free for once.

    Sooo, Drew Barrymore asked John Cena "where he was at" with having children because he would make "the world's best father," and John gave a very introspective answer.

    john cena on the drew barrymore show

    John said, “It’s hard work. It’s hard work to balance the time I need to run myself correctly. It’s hard work to be the best partner and husband I can be to my loving wife. It's hard to keep connections with those in my life that I love. And it's also hard to put in an honest day's work."

    John sitting on a talk show couch and gesturing to the audience

    He continued, “This is just my perspective; I think just because you might be good at something, for me, is not a strong-enough reason to do that. You have to have a passion for it. You have to have a fuel for it. It’s like saying to somebody, ‘Man, you know, you are pretty good with your hands. You'd be a great carpenter.’”

    john at comic con in his superman getup

    He finished off the question by saying, "It is difficult water to tread because everyone is like, When? I just know not right now."

    john on fallon in a superman shirt

    John isn't the only "child-free" celebrity. Here are 24 other celebrities who decided not to breed:

    1. Stevie Nicks

    stevie knicks performing in 2019

    She told InStyle, "It's like, Do you want to be an artist and a writer, or a wife and a lover? With kids, your focus changes. I don't want to go to PTA meetings."

    stevie knicks in 1985

    2. Christopher Walken

    chris walken in 2001

    When asked by the Guardian if his career would have been possible if he had children, he responded, "Absolutely not."

    chris in 2019 in paris giving a speech

    3. Keanu Reeves

    keanu at the new matrix red carpet

    When asked by Esquire if he was ever going to settle down, Keanu said, "I'm 52. I'm not going to have any kids."

    keanu rubbing his eye on the matrix red carpet

    4. Dolly Parton

    Dolly singing in a silver gown

    She told Oprah via Today, "Since I had no kids and my husband was pretty independent, I had freedom. So I think a big part of my whole success is the fact that I was free to work."

    She's in a green dress

    5. Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham

    From the '80s

    She told People magazine about their decision not to have kids: "I have not had one regret about that. I also believe that part of the reason why I don’t have regrets is because I got to fulfill it in the way that was best for me: the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa."

    They're smiling happily

    6. Issa Rae and Louis Diame

    On an HBO red carpet

    She told Self magazine she doesn't know if she'll ever have kids: "I like my life, I like this selfishness, and I know that I have a window."

    At an Essence event

    7. Allen Ludden and Betty White

    He's kissing her in black and white

    Betty told CBS in 2012, "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."

    At a Hot for Cleveland event

    8. Jane Wagner and Lily Tomlin

    At the Screen Actors Guild Awards

    Lily told Metro Weekly she was glad she never had kids: "God only knows what I would have done with them, poor things. I really do like kids, but there wouldn’t have been room in my life to raise children."

    Both happy on the red carpet

    9. Jon Hamm

    A headshot of Jon

    He told Mr Porter, "I don't think it's necessarily an imperative. I'm not going to psychoanalyze myself here, but…well, never say never. I've got nieces and nephews and I've been a teacher. I've probably been around kids a lot more than all my friends. I feel if you shut that off entirely, you calcify. You turn into that guy."

    He's rubbing his hands together

    10. Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally

    They're hugging at an Oscar party

    Megan told GQ, "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. So we tried, but I was a little long in the tooth for that sort of thing. But we didn’t turn it into a soap opera. We tried for about a year or so and it didn’t happen, and took that to mean it wasn’t meant to be."

    Big beard and Megan

    11. Ricky Gervais

    Holding an award

    He told Ellen DeGeneres (via Hello magazine), "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."

    Giving a thumbs-up

    12. Ina Garten

    She's smiling with a mic

    She told Katie Couric on her podcast (via ET) about her choice not to have kids: "I really felt — I feel — that I would have never been able to have the life I've had. And so it's a choice, and that was the choice I made."

    With her husband

    13. Sandra Oh

    At a movie premiere in london

    She told Marie Claire, "I have an extremely fulfilling life as an aunt, not only to my nieces and nephews but also to a lot of my friends’ children."

    At the Shang Chi premiere

    14. Seth Rogen

    In an orange suit and bow tie at the Emmys

    He told Howard Stern (via the Independent), "I don’t know anyone who gets as much happiness out of their kids as we get out of our nonkids. Like, we’re fucking psyched all the time! We’re laying in bed on Saturday mornings smoking weed, watching movies naked. If we had kids, we could not be fucking doing this.”

    Waving at the Emmy Awards

    15. Kim Cattrall

    A headshot

    She thought about starting IVF treatments after marrying her third husband, but her schedule for Sex and the City was too chaotic.

    On the red carpet, in a white stole, in 2004

    16. Allison Janney

    At the Emmys 2021

    She told Drew Barrymore (via Today), "I wasn't ever really confident that I wanted to have kids, and I would rather regret not having kids than have kids and regret it."

    Sitting in a chair

    17. Sarah Paulson

    A close-up headshot

    When asked about having kids, Sarah said, "I don’t know. I’m getting a little old, so there’s cobwebs going on in them ovaries."

    In a diamond-studded dress at a gala

    18. Marisa Tomei

    Holding a football and wearing a fur

    She told Glamour UK that she “[doesn’t] know why women need to have children to be seen as complete human beings.”

    A portrait at the 2020 Film Indie Spirit Awards

    19. Brendon Urie

    In a shiny black suit

    In a 2015 Periscope, Brendon and his wife, Sarah, said they didn't want a child.

    Brendon and his wife smiling

    He joked on a Twitch stream, "I think your kid sucks. You think your kid's a superstar and a genius; I think they're dumb."

    View this video on YouTube

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    20. Anjelica Huston

    In 1971 holding a flower

    She told the Guardian this about her decision not to have kids: "I would probably have been miserable."

    Smiling in 2011

    21. Tracee Ellis Ross

    At the Met Gala

    She told Marie Claire, "Our society spoon-feeds it to you. I used to put myself to sleep dreaming of my wedding, and I would still love all of that, but what am I going to do, just sit around waiting? Shut up. I’ve got so many things to do.”

    Huge smile at the Met Gala

    22. Rachael Ray

    Smiling with some food

    She told People magazine, "I don’t have time. I work too much to be an appropriate parent. I feel like a bad mom to my dog some days because I’m just not here enough. I just feel like I would do a bad job if I actually took the time to literally give birth to a kid right now and try and juggle everything I’m doing."

    She's smiling on the red carpet

    23. Helen Mirren

    A headshot of Helen

    She told British Vogue (via Vanity Fair), "[Motherhood] was not my destiny. I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen, but it never did, and I didn’t care what people thought. ... It was only boring old men [who would ask me].”

    Walking in a fashion show in Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the background

    24. Jennifer Aniston

    She's smiling, beaming

    She wrote for HuffPost, "We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone."

    She's smiling