Acknowledging that it sounds like 'a selfish, awful thing to say,' the '9 to 5' hitmaker admits she feels 'almost' happy she 'never had children' with husband Carl Dean.
- Sep 22, 2023
AceShowbiz - Dolly Parton feels "almost glad" she never had children as she hates the idea of bringing them up in a divided world. The "Jolene" singer, 77, who has been wed to her husband Carl Dean for 57 years, said she wouldn't want to raise kids in today's political climate as she thinks "nobody is willing to listen to anybody."
"I know this sounds like a selfish, awful thing to say, but I'm almost glad I never had children. I worry myself to death about my nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews," she told Mojo magazine about how she and Carl have come to think of themselves as each other's child.
"It seems like we're not making any progress, mostly because nobody's trying. Nobody's willing to listen to anybody else. Everybody already knows everything. You're going to teach your children the same thing, whether it's right or wrong… my husband and I, we just think of ourselves as each other's child. He's my only child, and I'm his only child."
Dolly added her family is split 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans - meaning it is nearly impossible for them to have a peaceful get-together. She said, "You can't even have a Christmas dinner, especially if somebody gets drinking. You think, 'Oh Lord, it's not even worth it any more.' We've lost families, we've lost friends, all because of the great divide – that's just politics."
Dolly has previously opened up about not having kids, telling Oprah Winfrey in a 2020 interview, "I believed that God didn't mean for me to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine."
She added to the chat show host, 69, not having kids gave her the time to set up her Imagination Library initiative, which donates books to young children.
She also told The Guardian in 2016 she feared if she had kids, it would have stopped her being a star. Dolly admitted, "I would have been a great mother, I think. I would probably have given up everything else. Because I would've felt guilty - if I'd have left them (to go touring). Everything would have changed. I probably wouldn't have been a star."
