Seth Rogen's Highly-Praised Defense For Not Having Kids Is What Childless Women In Hollywood Have Been Trying To Tell Us For Years
Although he has been asked the question numerous times, it is celebrity women who face more pressure to start a family.
Tinseltown & Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock Seth Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, have been married for well over a decade and have been asked the question many married couples are asked by eager, friends, family, and fans — “When are you planning on starting a family?” Rogen’s answer: not now and not ever.
He explained his decision in further detail during a podcast episode and shed light on why some couples choose to be childless and the expectations and pressure many of them face to have children in the first place.
Why is Seth Rogen not having children?
Seth Rogen and his wife do not plan on having children since it would interfere with their happy marriage.
While appearing on an episode of the podcast, “The Diary of A CEO,” host Steven Bartlett asked the 41-year-old actor if he wants to eventually expand his family. The short answer is no, however, Rogen provided a more in-depth explanation as to why he does not plan on having children and why being childless has “helped him succeed.”
Seth Rogen says he and his wife are happier without children and believe it has helped their careers.
He recognizes that the decision may not align with other couples’ and may even alarm some. “There's a whole huge thing I'm not doing, which is raising children,” he told Barlett. When Barlett asks how he handles the opinion of those who have children, including their belief that children would make him and his wife “happier,” Rogen says he is unswayed.
“I don’t think it would [make us happy],” he says. Rogen shares that he and his wife however never had the desire to have children despite societal norms, and it is something that has benefitted their marriage greatly.
“Honestly the older we get, the more happy and reaffirmed we are with our choice to not have kids,” he says. “Now more than anything the conversation is, thank god we don’t have children. We get to do whatever we want, we’re in the prime of our lives, we are smarter than we’ve ever been, we understand ourselves more than we ever have, we have the capacity to achieve a level of work and a level of communication and care for one another.”
The actor adds that the world “doesn’t need” a child added to it right now, and recognizes the amount of time he has to commit to his marriage and to his work compared to his colleagues who do have children.
“I have time to do the things I need to do and the things I enjoy doing than they do,” he says. “Not to say their kids don’t bring them joy… but me and my wife seem to find enjoyment out of not having kids than anyone I know seems to get out of having kids.”
Other celebrities have chosen not to have children and it is women who face more pressure to do so.
Rogen and his wife are not the only ones who are content with their decision of being childless. In general, it is often women who face additional pressure to have children. Per a research poll from YouGov, Americans were more than twice as likely to say women (37%) face pressure to have children than they say men do (17%). This does not exclude women in Hollywood.
Female celebrities are often scrutinized for being childless. During a 2019 interview with Elle, singer Miley Cyrus revealed she has no intentions of having children anytime soon due to environmental concerns.
Photo: Tinseltown
“We’re getting handed a piece of sh-t planet, and I refuse to hand that down to my child,” she shared. “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. We [millennials] don’t want to reproduce because we know that the earth can’t handle it."
Cyrus and other women who are forced to repeatedly explain why they are not having children have frequently spoken to the tiresome nature of this conversation.
"As a woman, I’m so sick — and have been so sick — of being asked that question [about having kids] repeatedly when I’ve made my views so clear to people,” comedian Chelsea Handler told TODAY. She also points out the lack of representation of "people in this world that just want to be living their lives and live out loud and loving hard without a family and without that kind of societal construct."
Actress Jennifer Aniston, another celebrity who is often inquired about having children, makes this clear. "[I don't] like [the pressure] that people put on me, on women—that you've failed yourself as a female because you haven't procreated. I don't think it's fair," the 54-year-old told Allure. "You may not have a child come out of your vagina, but that doesn't mean you aren't mothering—dogs, friends, friends' children."
Photo: Ron Adar / Shutterstock
Overall, asking men and women about their plans for having children assumes that they want to or should have children. It disregards diverse aspirations, choices, and priorities and may unintentionally pressure or judge those who have chosen not to have children or are unable to do so.
Instead of focusing on couples’ reproductive plans, it's generally advisable to engage in conversations that are respectful, inclusive, and considerate of individual choices and circumstances.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.