Celebrities who choose not to have children

For reasons relating to health, parenting ideals, society, and even the uncertain future of our planet, some couples decide not to have children. Among them are also celebrities who have spoken out about their choice to not become parents.

The 'Morbius' actor told ES Magazine that he was not ready to become a parent. "I think it's really important to be present if you have children. I have a lot of... things to take care of," he said.

For actress Helen Mirren, parenting just didn't seem to be in the stars. "It was not my destiny," she told Vogue. "I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen, but it never did, and I didn’t care what people thought."

Keanu Reeves was a father once, but he tragically lost his newborn daughter Ava Archer Syme-Reeves in 1999. Since then, the actor hasn't had any more children. Years after his loss he told Esquire: "I’m too … it’s too late. It’s over. I’m 52. I’m not going to have any kids."

Miley Cyrus told Elle Magazine that the planet is "exhausted," referring to pollution and global warming. "I refuse to hand that down to my child…Until I feel like my kid would live on an earth with fish in the water, I'm not bringing in another person to deal with that."

The actress may have had a nice family on screen as Morticia Addams, but in real life, she says she's "grateful" not to have children. Huston told World Entertainment News Network: "I am a mess if I have to say goodbye to my dog for longer than five days. I don't know how I would deal with kissing my children as I left for work. I know there are women who are able to do that. I don't know if I could."

"As a comic always working & on the road I have had to decide between motherhood & living my fullest life," Sarah Silverman tweeted. "I chose the latter."

Oprah Winfrey explained to People magazine why she never became a parent. "I don't have the ability to compartmentalize the way I see other women do. It is why, throughout my years, I have had the highest regard for women who choose to be at home [with] their kids, because I don’t know how you do that all day long. Nobody gives women the credit they deserve."

The talented daughter of Diana Ross told The Times: "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."

The British comedian told Ellen DeGeneres in her talk show that, if he were a parent, he'd "worry sick about a baby. I have a cat, and I worry about that. I check the door three times before I go out... I put food and water in every room in case the door closes, and he’s peckish for 20 minutes."

Celebrity couple Ellen and Portia chose not to have children together. "You have to really want to have kids, and neither of us did," Portia told Out Magazine. "So it's just going to be me and Ellen and no babies." For her part, Ellen said on The Today Show that she would like to have kids, but just liking it is "not enough to have a kid."

The 'Sex and the City' star describes herself as "a woman of a certain age who doesn't have kids and never really settled down." Talking to The Advocate about parenthood, she said: "I enjoy kids but not for long periods. I think they're adorable and funny and sweet, and then I have a headache."

The actress, who's been in a relationship with Holland Taylor since 2015, told The Sunday Times: "I love kids, but I'm very impulsive. I was afraid that I would have children and regret it."

'Community' actress Alison Brie, who's married to actor Dave Franco, says that the cats are their children. "I don't really want to have kids. It's great because I don't worry about when I should get pregnant - between seasons, while we're shooting the show..." she told the Sunday Times. She added that it "would be nice, but I think of all the things that would be so stressful."

In an interview with E!’s Daily Pop, the singer said: "I have nieces and nephews forever and I'm always watching how people are scrambling for babysitters. I don't want to go through that…I like my freedom to go and move and do what I want to do. I don't want to have to tend to someone all the time."

The Australian singer and actress had to deal with breast cancer at the age of 36, which made it hard to think about family planning. "Realistically, you’re getting to the late side of things," she told The Times. "And, while [a family] wasn’t on my agenda at the time, [cancer] changed everything." She added that "obviously, I wonder what that would have been like."

Speaking to Drew Barrymore at her talk show, 'Mom' actress Allison Janney said that, with "the right guy at the right time who wanted to have kids, I probably would have." She continued, though: "I would rather regret not having kids than have kids and regret that. I'm OK with it."

The cooking star says she works "too much to be an appropriate parent.... I just feel like I would do a bad job if I actually took the time to literally give birth to a kid right now and try and juggle everything I'm doing," she told People magazine.

The Oscar-winner told Manhattan Magazine: "I don't know why women need to have children to be seen as complete human beings."

The Oscar-winning actress told Extra TV in 2016 that she's always been "kind of open to whatever may be, curious to see what's next." The same goes for her decision whether to be a parent. "I've never been that deliberate about my life and the things that I would require in order to be happy."

"I just don’t think it’s the best use of my time," Chelsea Handler told the audience at the Goop Health Summit of 2018. "Becoming a mother is something that I take so seriously. People need to really wánt to become a mom."