While Dolly Parton might be Mother, she’s not actually a mum.
The iconic 9 to 5 singer has recently revealed why she and her husband never had children. Speaking to Saga Magazine, the country music star explained: “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 travelling. If I'd had kids, I'd have stayed at home with them. I'm sure and worried myself to death about them."
She went on to add that she would “hate to be bringing a child into this world right now,” given “everything that’s going on.”
“I always say God didn't let me have children so that all kids could be mine,” she added.
Parton met her husband Carl Thomas Dean in 1964. Luckily, Jolene didn’t take her man, and the two married in an intimate service two years later. The pair wed in Ringgold, a small town in Georgia, “because we knew that was where you could get your license and get married the same day," she told a local news station at the time.
The couple have been private about their relationship ever since, rarely appearing in public together or discussing their marriage in interviews.
But, this isn’t the first time Dolly has spoken about why her and her husband never had children. In 2014, she told Billboard magazine, “Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids.” She went on to reveal that she and her husband even had names picked out.
Dolly’s health may have also been a contributing factor. Like 10% of people with uteruses, the singer suffers from endometriosis, which can make it difficult to get pregnant. She was diagnosed at 33 and had a partial hysterectomy at 36. In her book, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, she reveals the impact the operation had on her, writing; “Suddenly I was a middle-aged woman. I went through a dark time."
But, the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame inductee says she doesn’t regret her decision to not have children; “I haven't missed it like I thought I might,” she explained. “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.’”
While she may not be a mother herself, she has a special bond with her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, who calls her Aunt Dolly. “I love Miley. She’s my little sweetheart. I’ve known her since before she was born, actually,” Parton said on the Howard Stern Show earlier this year.
The two have regularly collaborated on music together, with Cyrus often turning to her godmother for advice. Dolly went to say that; “She’s very successful. Miley’s very smart. She’s very intuitive about the business, and I just think Miley’s a spectacular human being and an amazing talent.”
Senior Sex and Relationship Writer
Lois Shearing is Cosmoplitan's Senior Sex and Relationship Writer. They have been writing about sex, sexuality, gender, politics, and relationships for almost ten years. Their writing on these topics has appeared in Mashable, The Independent, Metro, The Advocate, and Byline Times, among others. In 2021, they published their first book, Bi the Way with JKP. They are currently working on two other books, set to be published in 2024.
In a previous life, they worked as a content marketer and content writer for various tech start-ups. They continue to be interested in the tech sector and its impact on our lives, relationships, and work, with particular regard to the ways AI will shape our relationships in the future.
Outside of work, they are deeply passionate about queer community organising, and run the only support resource for bisexual survivors of sexual violence in the UK: the Bi Survivors Network. You can find them on Instagram and X.
