Dolly Parton opens up on not having children with husband Carl Dean

After 57 years of marriage, Dolly Parton and her husband Carl Dean enjoy one of Hollywood's most enduring relationships. It demonstrates that, despite her time spent travelling to support her career, she and Dean have made their private lives a priority. Nevertheless, the singer is continually questioned about her decision to forgo having children. In a recent interview, Parton talked about being childless at the age of 77. 

Dolly Parton on her decision to not have kids 

In a conversation with the Exceptional, Parton reveals she has no regrets about not having any children. The singer said, “I haven't missed it like I thought I might. 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."

Thinking about the hypothetical scenario of having kids, Parton added she might have had to put her career on a back burner to take care of them. The Sweet Summer Lovin singer said, “If I’d had kids, I’d have stayed home with them, I’m sure, and worried myself to death about them. 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.”

However, this does not imply that the eight-time Grammy winner has never been a mother. Conversely, Parton emphasized how close she is to every child she has helped via her Imagination Library program, which has so far given youngsters all across the world access to about 227 million picture books.

Dolly Parton-Carl Dean’s relationship

Parton first met her now-husband Carl Thomas Dean in 1964 and two years later, they were married in a private ceremony. The couple tied the knot in the small Georgian town of Ringgold. 

Since then, the pair has remained secretive about their union, hardly ever showing up in public together or talking about it in interviews.