When Ina Garten decided to not have children, she was confident in her decision. On Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast, Wiser Than Me, the Barefoot Contessa star, 76, shared that she had "no interest in having children." Though some people might have doubts when choosing whether or not to have kids, Ina admitted that for her, making the decision "wasn't a struggle at all."
During the interview, she also revealed why the decision was so easy for her and how her husband felt about it.
Ina admitted that she wasn't completely sure where her confidence in her decision came from.
"I don't know where that certainty came from, but I was really sure of that," she revealed.
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However, she does know that her childhood influenced her perspective. "I just had a terrible childhood, and it was nothing I wanted to recreate," she shared on the podcast.
Her husband didn't necessarily feel the same way, though. He liked the idea of having kids, Ina explained. At the same time, he also loved her and wanted her to be happy, so he respected her decision.
She met her husband, Jeffrey Garten, in 1963. They got married in 1968, meaning they have been married for more than 50 years. Shortly after they met, Jeffrey began writing love letters to her, she revealed when speaking to People.
Ina believes her husband "would have been a great parent."
"He would have really loved having children," she continued. "But he wanted me to be happy, and it was OK with him."
Now that Ina is older and has seen her friends have kids, she can see "what it could be." However, that wasn't what she wanted for herself.
"When I was 20, I didn't want to have anything to do with it," she explained on the podcast.
Ina has written a memoir about her life. The memoir, titled Be Ready When the Luck Happens, is set to be released in October 2024. Ina recently spoke to Today.com about how she was not initially interested in writing a memoir about her life.
A friend encouraged her to write one by telling her, "Somebody’s going to write your story and it should be you," she explained to Today.com.
