Ina Garten reflects on choosing a child-free life, embracing freedom, and overcoming a difficult childhood to find happiness and fulfillment with her husband.
Ina Garten opened up about her thoughtful choice not to have kids, explaining that she feels content with the life she has created for herself.
On Tuesday, the Food Network star, 77, joined Amy Poehler on her podcast, Good Hang. They spent time chatting about a variety of topics, including marriage and cooking.
Their discussion brought up Ina’s complex relationship with her father and led to the subject of parenting.
Poehler commented, “Our society often values traditional straight marriages and tends to celebrate people who choose parenthood. But you chose a different path.”
She followed up by asking, “What do you see as the biggest advantage to not having kids?”
“Freedom from such a big responsibility,” Ina said with a happy voice. She lives with her husband Jeffrey. “when you’re dealing with those teenage years.”
Ina Garten at a book signing in Chapel Hill, NC
Photo credit: Therealbs2002, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Amy mentioned research showing that married couples without kids often feel the happiest in life.
“It’s kind of incredible when I think about how young I was to figure this out about myself,” Ina said sounding grateful. “I’m so lucky that Jeffrey stood by my choice. I can’t picture my life going any other way.”
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Ina Garten joined Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast last Tuesday. They chatted for a while about topics like marriage and cooking.
“Looking back, I find it amazing that I realized this about myself so in life. I’m grateful that Jeffrey supported my choice. I can’t imagine choosing a different path,” Ina shared.
“I’ve accomplished everything I dreamed of. The journey has been wonderful,” she said.
Ina Garten and Jeffrey, now in their 70s, have been married for over 50 years since their 1968 wedding.
They live in East Hampton, New York, the same place where she filmed her well-loved Barefoot Contessa show.
Her honest discussion of deciding not to have children aligns with her thoughts on her upbringing, which she shared in her 2024 memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens.
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Ina Garten talked about the abusive ways her father treated her and her brother Ken. She also described the difficult and strained relationship she had with her mom.
While speaking with Hoda Kotb about her memoir, she described her childhood as both “cold” and “lonely.” She shared that her parents Charles and Florence Rosenberg had many strict rules at home.
When Hoda asked about how her family handled injuries growing up, Ina replied:
“There was no such thing as physical affection in our home, and life felt cold and lonely,” she said. She added that she wasn’t sure if her mother was even capable of love.
“I wonder if she was ever capable of feeling that emotion,” Ina said when Hoda mentioned her father’s physical abuse. “My childhood was so controlled. Any dreams I had were crushed, and I never got to figure out who I really was.”
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As they kept discussing Ina’s difficult relationship with her father, the conversation turned to having children.
Ina Gartenand Jeffrey tied the knot in 1968. Their marriage has lasted more than five decades, showing their deep commitment to one another.
“I was always scared of his temper during my childhood,” she said. “Looking back now, it’s unbelievable that, as a little kid, I didn’t have the strength to stand up to him.” She also talked about a painful memory when he said to her, “No one will ever love you.”
“Crazy, right?” she said as she thought back. “He was so angry about something—I still have no clue what. Then he just hurled those words at me: ‘Nobody will ever love you.’ You know what makes me laugh now? Walking down Madison Avenue and having random people come up to me saying, ‘I love you.’ It feels like the universe is proving a point almost like it’s saying, ‘Looks like he was wrong, doesn’t it?'”
Ina said her father apologized to her many years later. She recalled him telling her, “I don’t know what I was thinking.” That moment made her see that he had been carrying guilt for a long time. She knew saying sorry was difficult for him, but it meant everything to her.
With her mom Florence though, things stayed unresolved. Ina confessed she didn’t even know whether her mother had ever recognized her career achievements.
Source:
Jane Herz (Nov. 25, 2025). Ina Garten, 77, vulnerably addresses her decision not to have children: ‘I can’t imagine my life any other way’. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/lifestyle/family-parenting/article-15325979/ina-garten-decision-not-children-husband-jeffrey.html
Header photo: Ina Garten at a book signing in Chapel Hill, NC
Photo credit: Therealbs2002, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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