Dolly Parton has shared reflections on her marriage to the late Carl Dean and the decision not to have children, noting that the couple had considered what their children might have looked like and had even selected a name for a daughter.

Parton, who died on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at age 80, spoke about these early thoughts during a 2014 interview with The Guardian. She recalled wondering if any children would inherit her husband's height or be "little squats" like herself.

"If we'd had a girl, she was gonna be called Carla," added Parton. "Anyway, we talked about it, and we dreamed it, but it wasn't meant to be. Now that we're older? We're glad."

Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82, was Parton's husband. The singer suggested that had she become a mother, her career trajectory would have been different.

Impact on career and independence

In a 2020 appearance on Apple TV+'s The Oprah Conversation, Parton told Oprah Winfrey that her lack of children provided an independence that allowed her professional success to thrive. She noted that both she and her husband were independent.

"Since I had no kids, and my husband was pretty independent, I had freedom," she said. "So I think a big part of my whole success is the fact that I was free to work."

Parton expressed a belief that her path was divinely intended, suggesting that her ability to focus on her work allowed her to pursue projects such as the Imagination Library. She told Winfrey:

"I didn't have children because I believed that God didn't mean for me to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine, so I could do things like Imagination Library, because if I hadn't had the freedom to work, I wouldn't have done all the things I've done," she told Winfrey. "I wouldn't be in a position to do all of the things I'm doing now."

In a 2023 interview with Saga magazine, Parton stated that while she and her husband considered children when they were a young couple, parenthood was not a "burning" desire for her. She added that had she had children, she would have stayed home with them and "worried myself to death about them."

Reflections on sacrifice

In one of her final interviews with PEOPLE in 2025, Parton reflected on the sacrifices made during her life, a realisation she noted came while compiling her book, Star of the Show: My Life on Stage.

She stated she was grateful she did not experience the guilt of leaving children to work or tour.

"I never had children, so at least I didn't have a guilty feeling. I'm thankful that I got to see my dreams come true," she said.

Parton also previously told The Guardian that she believed she would have been a "great mother," but suggested she would have likely given up everything else to care for them, stating, "I probably wouldn't have been a star."