The legendary Dolly Parton has been married to the love of her life, Carl Dean, for over half a century. Millions have wondered why the couple never had children of their own; according to Parton, God had other plans in mind.
“Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids,” Parton, 74, told Billboard. “We even had names if we did, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
Parton grew up with few creature comforts in a one-bedroom shack in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, eventually welcoming 11 siblings. Tragically, Parton’s baby brother Larry died just four days after being born.
“This particular baby was ’my baby,’” said Parton, sharing her grief with Closer Weekly, “so there is a lot of heartache that goes on with that.”
Parton after performing at the King's Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, in the presence of the Queen on May 20, 1977 Keystone/Getty Images
The would-be country music legend imagined she might start a family of her own when she met and fell in love with Carl Dean. Parton and Dean’s 56-year love story began when Dean met the 18-year-old beauty outside a laundromat in Nashville.
“My first thought was, ‘I’m gonna marry that girl,’” said Dean, 77, as quoted by ET Online. “My second thought was, ‘Lord, she’s good looking!’ And that was the day my life began.”
The couple got married two years after meeting, in 1966.
Some years into her marriage with Dean, however, Parton was diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful condition that adversely affected her chances of conceiving. In 1984, the star underwent a partial hysterectomy for the sake of her health.
The couple never conceived a child together. “God has a plan for everything,” the stoic singer told Today.
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton with Rogers's twin boys at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Ledyard Center, Connecticut, on April 10, 2010 Rick Diamond/Getty Images
Reflecting on the mothering ambition that never came to be, Parton told The Guardian in 2014, “My husband and I, when we first got married, we thought about if we had kids, what would they look like? Would they be tall, because he’s tall? Or would they be little squats like me?”
Eventually, the “9 to 5” singer admitted that she and Dean had come to terms with never becoming parents. “Now that we’re older,” Parton said, “we’re glad.”
If she and her husband had had children after all, the singer mused, she “probably wouldn’t have been a star.”
Parton meets young children at the Magna Science and Adventure Park in the town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, on Dec. 5, 2007. Pool/Getty Images
Parton and Dean celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016 by renewing their wedding vows in a glamorous private ceremony. Theirs remains one of the longest successful marriages in show business.
Later in life, Parton channeled her love for kids into a literacy project called Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a non-profit that gifts free books to preschoolers regardless of income. The singer also released an album full of fun, motivational songs for children in 2017 titled “I Believe in You.”
Parton arrives at Seacrest Studio at Monroe Carell Jr. Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, to greet kids and their parents on Oct. 13, 2017. Jason Davis/Getty Images
“I’m like a cartoon character,” Parton told People, “my voice is little and I’m an excitable little person like them! I’m very childlike in that way, in my nature.”
Today, Parton and her husband relish the roles of aunt and uncle to an adoring crowd of nieces and nephews. “They call me ‘Aunt Granny,’” said Parton, “while the bunch calls Carl ‘Uncle PeePaw.’”
Parton talks to the media at a press conference at the InterContinental Sydney in Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 10, 2011. Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
“I’ve loved their kids just like they’re my grandkids,” the singer continued, “and now I’ve got great-grandkids! Now I’m ‘GeeGee,’ which is great-granny.”
“I often think it just wasn’t meant for me to have kids,” said Parton, “so everybody’s kids can be mine.”
Louise Chambers
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Louise Chambers is a writer, born and raised in London, England. She covers inspiring news and human interest stories.
