Ina Garten Says She's 'Totally Happy with the Decision' to Not Have Children (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Ina Garten and husband Jeffrey.Photo:Allison Michael Orenstein

Allison Michael Orenstein

Ina Gartenhas no regrets about her decision not to have children.

The author ofBe Ready When the Luck Happens, 76, who has been married to Jeffrey Garten, 78, since 1968, said that “not for a minute” has she regretted her choice. “I think Jeffrey would’ve been a great parent but I don’t know whether I would’ve been a good parent or not. But anyway, I’m totally happy with the decision,” she said during a live Q&A at PEOPLE’s officeson Thursday, Dec. 5.

“I see why people have children, obviously,” she added. “My friends have children and they love them, and they have wonderful families, and I totally appreciate that. But it took me a long time to understand that.”

Garten was never pressured to start a family. “I have to say, even my parents never asked. I don’t think anybody ever asked,” she said.

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Ina Garten.Allison Michael Orenstein

“When I was in my 20s, when that conversation was happening, I just couldn’t understand why people had children because I had such a miserable childhood,” she said. “There was nothing happy about it.”

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“My parents had more of a ‘my way or the highway’ approach to child-­rearing, and any attempts at noncompliance were met with pretty serious anger,” Garten wrote in her memoir (excerpted exclusivelyin PEOPLE).

“Questioning what they expected me to wear, or when to do my homework, was totally unacceptable,” she continued.

Garten’s memoir,Be Ready When the Luck Happens, is available now.

source: people.com