Dolly Parton Shared the Heartfelt Reason She and Carl Dean Never Had Children
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Country legend Dolly Parton is beloved by listeners of all ages, but despite her large family (she was one of 12 children!) and her strong bond with kids, she and husband Carl Dean, who passed away on March 3, have never had children of their own. And according to Parton, that's the way it was meant to be.
In an interview with the Today show from 2017, Parton talked to host Matt Lauer to promote her first children's album, I Believe in You. She also works with kids through her charity Imagination Library, which has provided hundreds of millions of free books to young children.
During the interview, Parton said fate led her to be a mother to everyone instead of just a mother to her own children. "God has a plan for everything," she said. "I think it probably was his plan for me not to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine. And they are now."
Previously, Parton has said she used to regret not having children, but now doesn't feel that way, and has instead become close to her younger siblings and her nieces and nephews. "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,'" she told Billboard.
She told Lauer that kids are just drawn to her, just like everyone else is, and she credits her large family and her appearance for that. "I have that high-pitched voice... I look like Mother Goose or one of those over-exaggerated characters, and kids just relate to that," she said.
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