15 Celebrities And The Heartbreaking Reason Why They Never Wanted Kids

There have been celebrities like George Clooney who have once said they never see themselves having kids, but then fate propels them onto a different course.

Then there are these 15 celebrities who have never wanted to have kids. Their reasons behind being child-free is thought-provoking, and some of them are even heartbreaking.

1. Betty White

The Golden Girls star has been living with one major regret for most of her life, but it has nothing to do with being child-free.

White has been married three times. Her first marriage was to pilot Dick Barker in 1945. Their relationship lasted for almost a year.

Two years later, she met actor Lane Allen, but they called it quits in 1949.

In 1963, she finally met the love of her life, game show host Allen Ludden. Unfortunately, Ludden passed away from stomach cancer in 1981.

In 2011, the 96-year-old told CBS Sunday Morning that she's never regretted her decision to not have children:

"I’m so compulsive about stuff. I know that if I had ever gotten pregnant, of course, that would’ve been my whole focus. But I didn’t choose to have children because I’m focused on my career and I don’t think ... that I could manage both.”

2. Oprah Winfrey

The famous talk show host has more than a billion dollars to her name, but no child of her own to write in her will.

Just because Oprah doesn't have a kid now, doesn't mean she never did.

Oprah got pregnant when she was only 14 years old, after getting raped by a family member. She gave birth to a baby boy who tragically died soon after he was born.

Despite being in a stable relationship with Stedman Graham for 30 years, the couple have chosen not to have kids.

"I wouldn’t have been a good mom for babies,” Oprah told Good Housekeeping. "I don’t have the patience. I have the patience for puppies, but that’s a quick stage."

In 2013, she opened up to The Hollywood Reporter that her career would come in the way of being a good mother:

"If I had kids, my kids would hate me...They would have ended up on the equivalent of The Oprah Show talking about me; because something [in my life] would have had to suffer and it would've probably been them."

3. Ellen DeGeneres

The television host married Australian actress Portia de Rossi in 2008, and both of them are adamant about not having kids.

DeGeneres told People that she and De Rossi would make excellent parents, but it's not a commitment they're ready for:

"It's a human being, and 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! We love our animals."

De Rossi told Out that she also had to weigh the pros and cons before making a life-changing decision:

4. Jennifer Aniston

The Friends star has been married twice. She was first married to Brad Pitt in 2000, but five years later the couple called it quits.

Then in 2015, Aniston and Justin Theroux tied the knot. We were hoping to hear even bigger news after they secretly wed.

I guess the world was so excited about Aniston's second marriage that rumors started circulating that she was hiding a baby bump.

The now 49-year-old actress opened up to Inquisitr on how the pressure of having kids is a sensitive topic for her, and that she's tired of people asking her when she will have one.

“Nobody’s right to judge someone else’s choices. No one knows what’s going on beyond the four walls of your home, of these people who are having or not having children,” she said. “It’s a very sensitive area to go to, especially.”

5. Leonardo DiCaprio

The hottest bachelor in Hollywood is in his early 40s and still doesn't have kids. Now the question is, will he pull a George Clooney?

The Oscar-winning actor has had more relationships than I have fingers, but hasn't been able to settle down with the right woman just yet.

Despite being extremely private, what we do know about the Titanic star is that he's passionate about the environment, which may give a hint as to why he may not want to have a child.

"Do you mean do I want to bring children into a world like this?" he asked Hello! magazine in 2016. "If it happens, it happens. I'd prefer not to get into specifics about it, just because then it becomes something that is misquoted."

6. Cameron Diaz

The former Charlie's Angels actress married guitarist Benji Madden in 2015 and are reportedly thinking about having a child. There are also reports that Diaz has retired from acting, but those didn't turn out to be true.

That's all just tabloid news. The 45-year-old has been unsure for many years on whether having a child in her life is the right decision.

In 2014, she told Esquire that children require a lot of effort, and a responsibility that she has never mentally been prepared for:

"A baby— that's all day, every day for eighteen years ... Not having a baby might really make things easier, but that doesn't make it an easy decision. I like protecting people, but I was never drawn to being a mother."

7. Rachel Ray

The celebrity chef and her husband John Cusimano have been questioned many times on whether they plan on having kids.

The 49-year-old television personality revealed that she doesn't have enough time to spend with her husband, let alone a kid.

"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," Ray told People in 2007.

Apparently Ray has five jobs, so you can't blame her.

It's better to not have them than to regret them!

8. Dolly Parton

The "Jolene" singer told People Country in 2014 that "it just wasn't meant for [her] to have kids."

"God has a plan for everything," she said in an interview with the Today show. "I think it probably was his plan for me not to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine. And they are now."

She and her longtime husband, Carl Thomas Dean, feel like they already have children of their own:

"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 grandkids!"

9. Kim Cattrall

The Sex and the City actress told Oprah that when she was younger, she felt like her time was limited to have a child, and so she decided to find a sperm donor.

When four folders of selections for sperm donors arrived at her doorstep, she froze, and had to make one of the toughest decision of her life.

"When I was five, my fantasy was to have a hundred dogs and a hundred kids. I realized that so much of the pressure I was feeling was from outside sources, and I knew I wasn't ready to take that step into motherhood ... Being a biological mother just isn't part of my experience this time around," she said.

That being said, Cattrall said there are many times when she feels like a mother.

For example when a young actress comes to her for advice about her career, or when she gives a talk at a school, or babysits for a friend.

She has a good point!

10. Ashley Judd

Those of you who watched the 2012 short-lived series Missing were probably convinced that Judd has children of her own.

The way the actress's character risked her life to find her 18-year-old son was simply heart-wrenching.

To my surprise, the 50-year-old Double Jeopardy actress doesn't have any kids, but she has a soft spot for them - especially the ones who grow up without parents:

“I do not need to go making ‘my own’ babies when there are so many orphaned or abandoned children who need love, attention, time, and care," she told Sunday Mail.

"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," she wrote in her memoir, All That Is Bitter and Sweet.

11. Jay Leno

The 68-year-old former talk show host wouldn't mind having kids, but his longtime wife, Mavis, has talked him out of it.

In 2014, Mavis opened up to The Washington Post about the real reason why she has never wanted kids.

Apparently, the 2005 comedy film The Honeymooners made quite the impression on her.

12. Chelsea Handler

The comedian's reason for wanting to be child-free is an excuse we hear many childless celebrities say: "We don't have time."

But that's not all, Handler also believes that her lack of patience wouldn't make her a good mother.

"I think you have to be honest about what your strengths are in life," she told MyDomaine.

Although she thinks she won't make a good mother, the 43-year-old is great at being an aunt:

"I don't really have any responsibilities aside from being fun. I don't have to play the long game; I can just show up and have a really good time with them. That's kind of what I'm good at in life."

13. Stevie Nicks

The 69-year-old singer-songwriter said she doesn't want children because she despises PTA meetings. But it's more than just that.

Music is the only thing Nicks has ever wanted to put her heart and soul into.

So when she got pregnant with Don Henley's baby, she chose to get an abortion.

"I know I could not have done both. I'd have ended up having to stop doing my music, or pretty much letting someone else raise my child, which would have made me very unhappy," she once said.

Now every time people ask if she's afraid of being alone, her answer is this: "I know women who are going, like, “I don’t want to grow old alone.” And I’m like, "See, that doesn’t scare me.” Because I’ll never be alone. I'll always be surrounded by people."

15. Jon Hamm

According to a source, the Mad Men actor is so opposed to having kids that this decision caused him and his wife, Jennifer Westfeldt, to split after 18 years of marriage.

Before their divorce, Hamm told The Hollywood Reporter that they thought about kids, but he believed that they were in a "tricky environment" to welcome a baby.

He also told US Weekly that he thinks he would be a "terrible father."

"I see my friends who have children and I'm like, 'Dude, how are you even upright, much less here at work at 6 a.m.?'"

If you liked this article, check out 10 celebrity moms who had kids too young, and the ones who tried to keep it a secret.