Inside Dolly Parton's Decision Not to Have Children: Country Star Admitted 'I Would Have Been a Great Mother'
Dolly Parton was open about her struggles to have children during her marriage to husband Carl Thomas Dean.
Aug. 26 2026, Updated 12:50 p.m. ET
Dolly Parton spoke candidly about not having any children during her glittering career, admitting she had no regrets, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The country superstar, who passed away on Tuesday, August 25, after a short battle with cancer, intended to start a family with her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, after they married in 1966.
'We Just Assumed We Would Have Kids'
Parton said she planned to have kids after getting married.
But not for the want of trying, they never became parents, which they both later accepted.
Speaking to Billboard in 2014, Parton said: "Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids. We weren't doing anything to stop it. In fact, we thought maybe we would.
"We even had names if we did, but it didn't turn out that way. Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, 'Aren't you glad we didn't have kids? Now we don't have kids to worry about.'"
In 2023, Parton reflected on not having children when asked whether she regretted not starting a family, and while she did at first, she later accepted her fate.
Dolly Parton Did Not 'Miss' Not Having Kids
Parton never let not having kids get her down.
"I haven't missed it like I thought I might," she told Saga Magazine. "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. If I'd had kids, I'd have stayed at home with them. I'm sure and worried myself to death about them."
She added: "With everything that's going on, I'd hate to be bringing a child into this world right now. I always say God didn't let me have children so that all kids could be mine."
Parton had 14 nieces and nephews whom she cared for instead.
Her husband died in March 2025 after 58 years of marriage.
'I Went Through A Dark Time'
The country icon had a partial hysterectomy at the age of 36.
Writing in her 2017 book, Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton, the Jolene singer revealed that health issues were another factor in her struggle to have kids, revealing that she was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 35.
She went on to have a partial hysterectomy at the age of 36, meaning she wouldn't be able to have children naturally.
Parton's operation seriously impacted her; writing in her book, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones: "Suddenly I was a middle-aged woman. I went through a dark time."
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The star had 14 nieces and nephews.
Parton’s nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, announced her death on August 25 in a video statement posted to her Instagram page.
"I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now," he said. "It is an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies within us, not with Dolly."
Seaver recognized that Parton "opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life" throughout her career and showed her legions of fans that "anything was possible."
