15 Stars That Chose a Life Without Children and Explained Why Being a Parent Is Not for Them

According to recent studies, the level of life satisfaction almost doesn’t depend on whether an individual has children or not. Far more important components of happiness are education level and relationship status. And celebrities that openly talk about their child-free positions only prove scientists’ conclusions.

We at CHEERY decided to find out why the stars from our compilation chose to have no children.

Zoe Kravitz

The actress shared that she doesn’t feel any public pressure about becoming a parent, “This idea of like, you’re 30. You’re a grown-up. Now you’re supposed to have kids and stop having fun because that’s for children — I bought that for a second. It was like, ‘I don’t go out anymore. I just make roast chickens.’ But I still want to go on adventures, have fun nights, and see the sunrise. Playful, mischievous behavior is something I always hope to have, even when I’m 70 years old.”

Zoe Kravitz also said that her gynecologist has suggested that she froze eggs for the future, but she doesn’t think about it now.

Winona Ryder

Despite the many romances, the 52-year-old actress never had children. Her father was worried about it. But later, he understood his daughter’s position: there are other ways to bond with kids.

’’I have a niece and nephew I adore and a great life in San Francisco, so these days it’s equally as important to me to be a good sister and friend and daughter as it is to make films. It takes something really special to make me want to leave the life that I’ve created for myself," the actress said.

Sarah Paulson

The actress is worried that motherhood may be too hard to her. She is extremely responsible: even taking care of 2 dogs was really difficult for her.

She shared, “I don’t want to be torn. I don’t want to look at my child and say, ‘You’re the most extraordinary thing that ever happened to me, but also the death knell.’ It’s selfish, but I think the word selfish gets a bad rap.”

Alison Brie

The actress said that she doesn’t want to have children, cats are enough for her, “They’re our children... I don’t really want to have kids. 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 was a child!”

Tracee Ellis Ross

49-year-old actress said that right now, she doesn’t want to be very traditional and have a husband and children. In this case, having children wouldn’t be her decision, but one imposed by society.

“People fall back on, ‘Well, that’s the point of the human species, procreation.’ And I’m, like, ‘I think there are a lot of babies, isn’t that part of what’s going wrong, there’s too many?’ Some people could be working on the world being a better place, or just being happy,” she explained.

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken explains his incredibly big filmography with the fact that he has no kids. 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.”

Fiona Apple

The singer shared that children are not her choice, and she wants to keep developing as a person. She said, “I’ve never wanted kids. But I do read about parenting a lot. For some reason, it’s very interesting to me—I think because I’m just big on self-parenting.”

Fiona Apple added that she read books about seamanship that taught her to get out of trouble. When reading it, she realized that kids would definitely have problems, and she doesn’t want that.

Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd is one of the most famous child-free people. When she was getting married, she told her husband that she would not have children as long as there are children starving in Africa, “It’s unconscionable to breed when the number of children are starving to death in impoverished countries. I know it’s a strong opinion a lot of people won’t agree with.”

Ricky Gervais

The actor and his partner, producer Jane Fallon, decided not to become parents back when they were students. Ricky Gervais said, “We never wanted to be parents, with all that entails: the loss of freedom, total dependency. We just didn’t fancy dedicating 16 years of our lives. And there are too many children, of course.”

He added that he is a type of person that checks whether he closed the door 3 times. This is why he would probably not be able to handle the responsibility and would just stare at his kid to know if they are breathing.

Chelsea Handler

Actress, comedian, and tv-star has been openly talking about her child-free position for many years, “I definitely don’t want to have kids. 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 myself.”

John Cena

Actor, wrestler, and ex-raper is ready to try different things, but not the role of a father. He explained, “I really enjoy my life. I have been given opportunities to do and see things that man, I didn’t even dream of, and I had some pretty lofty dreams. It’s hard work to balance the time I need to run myself correctly.”

He says that he doesn’t always have enough time to be a good husband, let alone having children.

Megan Mullally

When asked about the secret of her 20-year-long marriage with Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally explained that it was probably the fact they don’t have kids. “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.”

She added that they decided not to turn the situation into a soap opera. After about a year of unsuccessful attempts to conceive a baby, she realized that the initial decision not to have children was the right one.

Dolly Parton

The singer grew up in a huge family of 12 children, and she’s had enough experience with her siblings and their kids, “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!”

Dita Von Teese

The burlesque dancer said that one of the reasons why she has no children is the social media pressure, “That’s probably one of the reasons I decided not to have children—out of fear of how these things could unfold.”

Dita Von Teese said that she really dislikes the influence the internet has on the future generation and how children develop with it.

Leonardo DiCaprio

The 47-year-old actor doesn’t have a radical child-free position. But over the years, he has said that he’s not yet ready to have his own children, “I’m not that old, my biological clock isn’t ticking yet. I’d like to leave it to fate if and when I’m going to be a father. A part of me has too many professional plans to even seriously consider it.”

Besides, DiCaprio is a big environmental activist, and he worries about the world his children would come to, “Do you mean do I want to bring children into a world like this? — he asked — If it happens, it happens.”

In your opinion, can a person be happy without children, or do people just have to have kids to be truly happy?