Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

Add post form topAdd Post
Tooltip close

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

Dolly Parton Reveals Compelling Reasons For Choosing A Child-Free Life, And Her Perspective Makes Sense
324

Dolly Parton Reveals Compelling Reasons For Choosing A Child-Free Life, And Her Perspective Makes Sense

Dolly Parton Reveals Compelling Reasons For Choosing A Child-Free Life, And Her Perspective Makes Sense“God Didn’t Let Me Have Children”: Dolly Parton Breaks Her Silence On Not Having ChildrenDolly Parton Opens Up About Not Having Children, Says Motherhood Was Never A “Burning” DesireDolly Parton Acknowledges The Absence Of A Strong Desire For Children With Her Lifelong PartnerHaving Kids Wasn’t One Of “Those Burning Things” For Dolly Parton, The Singer Recently RevealsDolly Parton Opens Up About The Decision To Remain Childless, Expresses Being ‘Glad’ About Her Choice“I Had My Career, Music, And Traveling”: Dolly Parton Opens Up About Not Having Children“All Children Could Be Mine”: Dolly Parton Reveals The Reasons Behind Her Choice Not To Have KidsDolly Parton Says She’d “Hate To Be Bringing A Child Into This World Right Now”Dolly Parton Newly Reveals She “Hasn’t Missed” Having Kids “Like She Thought She Might”
ADVERTISEMENT

Dolly Parton recently opened up about her choice to not have children, admitting her successful career, working nine-to-five, would’ve been significantly slowed down if she had decided to start a family with her husband, Carl Dean.

The 77-year-old singer-songwriter told Saga Magazine: “I haven’t missed it like I thought I might. When you’re a young couple, you think you’re going to have kids, but it just wasn’t one of those burning things for me. I had my career and my music and I was traveling.”

Dolly and Carl met at a laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee in 1964 before tying the knot two years later.

RELATED:

    Dolly Parton opened up about why she and her husband Carl Dean didn’t have children

    Image credits: dollyparton.com

    Image credits: Eagledj

    “If I’d had kids, I’d have stayed at home with them, I’m sure, and worried myself to death about them,” the country music star said.

    She continued: “With everything that’s going on, I’d hate to be bringing a child into this world right now!

    Dolly and Carl met at a laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee in 1964 before tying the knot two years later

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: dollyparton.com

    Image credits: dollyparton.com

    “I always say God didn’t let me have children so that all kids could be mine.”

    Dolly isn’t the only famous person to choose a child-free life. Earlier this year, Patricia Clarkson also opened up about her decision to be childfree.

    “When you’re a young couple, you think you’re going to have kids, but it just wasn’t one of those burning things for me,” Dolly said

    Image credits: dollyparton

    “I had a window to have a child, but [at] the end of the day, I loved working and I grew up with great parents who sacrificed everything for me,” she explained.

    Speaking on Zoe Ball’s BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show last month, Dolly explained how her marriage to her 81-year-old husband has lasted: “We’ve been together 59 [years], we dated two years, and then we just celebrated our 57th anniversary on May the 30th.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: dollyparton

    “But I think so much of it is the fact that we are honest and open and we have a warped sense of humor!

    “He is crazy, he is so funny and clever. And I have a great sense of humor from both sides of my family so I think the humor has always been good.”

    “I always say God didn’t let me have children so that all kids could be mine,” Dolly said

    Image credits: Alan Light

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Dolly admitted that a mutual “love and respect” for one another has always been the bedrock of their romance. She said: “There’s the respect and the love and I just like him!

    “You know, I would have liked him if he wasn’t my husband, if he was somebody else’s husband, I’d say, “You know that Carl Dean, ain’t he funny? Ain’t he a good guy?”, so I think it’s just that mutual respect and we just like each other.”

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: dollyparton.com

    The songstress went on to reveal that she valued Carl’s opinion and that he never gave her an honest answer “in a cruel way”.

    She said: “If I ask him if he likes my hair – ‘too stringy for me’ or ‘it looks too important’ – you know like if it’s too stiff… he always calls it that, ‘It looks too important’, but I know if I ask him – he won’t just volunteer it – but if I ask him, he’ll tell me the truth.”

    “The world was her children,” some fans agreed

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: www.facebook.com

    Share on Facebook
    Andréa Oldereide

    Andréa Oldereide

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

    Read less »
    Andréa Oldereide

    Andréa Oldereide

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

    Donata Leskauskaite

    Donata Leskauskaite

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    Hey there! I'm a Visual Editor in News team. My responsibility is to ensure that you can read the story not just through text, but also through photos. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from celebrity drama to mind-blowing Nasa cosmic news. And let me tell you, that's what makes this job an absolute blast! Outside of work, you can find me sweating it out in dance classes or unleashing my creativity by drawing and creating digital paintings of different characters that lives in my head. I also love spending time outdoors and play board games with my friends.

    Read less »

    Donata Leskauskaite

    Donata Leskauskaite

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Hey there! I'm a Visual Editor in News team. My responsibility is to ensure that you can read the story not just through text, but also through photos. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from celebrity drama to mind-blowing Nasa cosmic news. And let me tell you, that's what makes this job an absolute blast! Outside of work, you can find me sweating it out in dance classes or unleashing my creativity by drawing and creating digital paintings of different characters that lives in my head. I also love spending time outdoors and play board games with my friends.

    What do you think ?
    Add photo comments
    POST
    Safy
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Me & my husband don't have children. I always saw my life with them but my body had other plans. I was upset about it for a long time, but during the pandemic I had many realizations -- I love my life. I do not feel that it is lacking, or that there is a void. The only thing that I will never know is in the future if I will regret it, but that isn't a good enough reason. We have 4 incredible nephews and we adore and spoil them. There are so many valid ways to live your life, it doesn't always have to be a marriage, house and kids. But if it is, that's grand too! :)

    brittany
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    i have 3 kids and i have huge respect and admiration for anyone who decides to live a child free life. having kids is not for everyone, nor should it be just like being a doctor is not for everyone, nor should it be. it is unending hard work that should never feel like an obligation or a "next step". it should be carefully thought out, evaluated and thought out again. and she's right, all kids are dolly's kids and i truly believe she has unending love for all of them.

    Load More Comments
    Safy
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Me & my husband don't have children. I always saw my life with them but my body had other plans. I was upset about it for a long time, but during the pandemic I had many realizations -- I love my life. I do not feel that it is lacking, or that there is a void. The only thing that I will never know is in the future if I will regret it, but that isn't a good enough reason. We have 4 incredible nephews and we adore and spoil them. There are so many valid ways to live your life, it doesn't always have to be a marriage, house and kids. But if it is, that's grand too! :)

    brittany
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    i have 3 kids and i have huge respect and admiration for anyone who decides to live a child free life. having kids is not for everyone, nor should it be just like being a doctor is not for everyone, nor should it be. it is unending hard work that should never feel like an obligation or a "next step". it should be carefully thought out, evaluated and thought out again. and she's right, all kids are dolly's kids and i truly believe she has unending love for all of them.

    Load More Comments
    You May Like
    Related on Bored Panda
    Related on Bored Panda
    Trending on Bored Panda
    Also on Bored Panda