Photos : 30 celebrities who don't have children, from Miley Cyrus to Christopher Walken
Over the past few years, Leonardo DiCaprio has racked up quite a reputation for being in relationships in women who are much younger than him. And while he has never expressed enthusiasm on wanting to have children, he has never explicitly said he is against it. He told Rolling Stones in 2016, ‘if it happens, it happens.’
The highest-paid host in the world once revealed in People: "Unless you think you have excellent skills and have a drive or yearning in you to do that, the amount of work that that is and responsibility—I wouldn't want to screw them up."
Her wife, Portia, is also on the same page as she said she never ‘really wanted’ to have kids.
The Grey's Anatomy star explained in Marie-Claire that she already has an extremely fulfilling life as an aunt: 'I have an extremely fulfilling life as an aunt, not only for my nieces and nephews but also for many of my friends' children.'
Jon Hamm has had a very successful acting career with smashing hits like Top Gun: Maverick, and who can forget Man Men. On a personal note, he prefers to live a rather solo life and not have children. He said in an interview with US Weekly: ‘I would be a horrible father! (...) When I see my friends who have children, I say to myself, how do you still manage to stand?’
Rogen used to be a stand-up comedian before he rose to fame as an actor with several films and TV shows. The Canadian-American actor revealed that his wife "didn't want to have children" as much as he did, adding that starting a family "didn't sound like fun".
The rebellious singer explained her non-desire for motherhood for ecological reasons. 'We always ask more from nature. We inherit a sick planet that I refuse to transmit', she revealed.
The actress from Netflix blockbuster Stranger Things, revealed in The Telegraph: 'It's a bit personal but I'm 42 years old and... Well, I was talking to my dad last year and I said, what if I can't have kids? and he said, there are other ways to have kids in your life. That's true, and I'm getting incredible doses of love with my brother's kids.'
Hollywood veteran star Sarah Paulson explained in an interview for Town&Country: 'I don't want to be torn apart. I don't want to look at my kids and say, 'You're the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me, but you're also a burden.'
Having been married for over 30 years, the American host still chooses not to have a baby. She once revealed that the decision stems from her traumatic past. Winfrey said: ‘I was raped when I was 9, abused when I was 10, and I was raped for all those years until I got pregnant at 14. And after giving birth to this child, he died.’
As an actor, Jared Leto's talent has been well delineated in Morbius and Suicide Squad. However, his busy filming schedule means Leto couldn't spend quality time for his family, which is why he chooses not to have kids. He said: 'I think it's really important to be present if you have children. I have a lot of...things to take care of.'
American comedian and actress Chelsea Handler is among the most active entertainers in the world. Her film schedule also means she doesn't have time to raise a child. Handler shares: 'I don't think I'd be a great mother ... I don't want to have a kid and have it raised by a nanny. I don't have the time to raise a child.'
At age 52, Matrix star Keanu Reeves is still very charming and the same Hollywood heartthrob we love. But for him, he is too old to have kids. He shares: 'It’s too late. It’s over…I’m 52. I’m not going to have any kids.'
Country music legend Dolly Parton is still very active in her career and therefore has no time for babies. She shares: 'I grew up in a big old family with eight kids younger than me and several of my brothers and sisters came to live with me early on in my life. I've loved their kids just like they're my grandkids, and now I've got great-grand-kids! Now I'm GeeGee, which is great-granny. I often think, it just wasn't meant for me to have kids so everybody's kids can be mine.'
Ghost Whisperer star Aisha Taylor candidly shared her views on living life without having babies: 'I wanted families [and] couples to know that it was a valid choice not to get on this crazy merry-go-round of IVF and tens and tens of thousands of dollars. I wanted people to feel—men and women—it's okay to say, ‘I love my marriage, I love my life, I choose not to have children.'
American stand-up comedian Margaret Cho candidly shares she has 'no maternal instincts' and 'feel nothing' when she sees children. That's why she chooses not to have any babies.
Girlfriends and Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross is one of the most beloved stars in Hollywood. In 2023 she talked about going through perimenopause, which is the transitional stage before menopause, and how she can feel her ‘ability to have a child’ leaving her body. She said that she tries to embrace the fact, ‘looking at it in terms of curiousity and not heartbreak.’
TV actress Rashida Jones, who rose to fame with The Office, reveals that she's okay with being single and having no kids. She said: 'I’m happy, but the fact that I'm not married and don't have kids — it's taken me a long time to get to a place where I actually am OK with that, where I actually don't feel like I'm some sort of loser.'
Ricky Gervais spoke up about why he doesn't have any children in 2009. He said that he only started earning money when he was 36, and said: ‘I didn’t have a work ethic for such a long time. Imagine if I had a child like me?’
The Community actress told The Time of London in 2018 that she really doesn't want to have kids. As a cat parent, she says she's already very involved. At the time she was shooting for Glow and said it was 'great beceause I don't worry about when I should get pregnant—between seasons.
Like many others, Patria Clarkson says that she's fulfilled by the fact that she's an aunt to many children. And while she considered having a child at one point of her life, she loved working. She added:
"You have to really be committed to having children. You have to be a great parent, and I was afraid I couldn't be."
According to EntertainmentDaily, the TV chef has admitted that marriage and kids are not for him. He said:
“I look at my mates and they’re all married with kids, and that’s not the case for me because I’ve been so focused on work.”
“The level of commitment it requires and the choices you have to make have a huge impact. But would I do the same thing again? Probably, because it’s made me who I am."
There are some actors who have chosen not to have children, however there are also some who unfortunately have tried but not been successful. One of which is Liza Minnelli. She told Access Hollywood Live in 2012:
"It’s not like I want to have children, I tried that, didn’t work unfortunately. It helped me because now I work with all kinds of children all over the world. Brain damaged children and I work with kids with AIDS and that’s how I’ve rationalized [not having kids]. I was meant to do something else."
Dame Helen Mirren opened up about not having children with Closer magazineand said she has no regrets.
"I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen but it never did, and I didn't care what people thought. I have never had a moment of regret about not having children."
The actress shared why she doesn't have children in her memoir All That Is Bitter and Sweet. She wrote:
"I figured it was selfish for us to pour our resources into making our ‘own’ babies when those very resources and energy could not only help children already here, but through advocacy and service transform the world into a place where no child ever needs to be born into poverty and abuse again. My belief has not changed. It is a big part of who I am."
The actress who used to be in a relationship with Jack Nicholson said they tried to conceive at one point, but it didnt work out. She told The Guardian:
“The truth is, I could never imagine [being a mother]. I can imagine lots of things, but I could never imagine carrying a baby.”
In 2008, the Bridget Jones actress said that motherhood was ‘never an ambition’ for her. She told The London Times:
“I just take things as they come, each day at a time, and if things happen, all well and good. I just want to be independent and be able to take care of myself. Anything else is just gravy."
When Betty White was alive, she spoke out about why she chose not to have children. She said in an interview with CBS:
"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"
Christopher Walken and his wife Georgianne have been together for decades. They got married in the 1960s but never had children together. He opened up about his choice multiple times and said that his career would not have been the same if he was a father. He said:
"I'm sure many of the kids I knew as a child would have continued in show business, but they had kids of their own, had to do something dependable. I didn't, so I could get by even in periods of unemployment."
One of the longest standing couples in Hollywood, Jay and Mavis Leno have been together since the 1970s. Their decision not to have kids comes from Mavis, who grew up with the same resolve. She told Washington Post:
"I remember telling my mother when I was 7 or 8 that I was never going to get married or have children. To me, this is the way women get caught."
