In a moment straight out of a Hollywood rom-com, Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller first met on a summer night in 2004 at a party hosted by screenwriter Will Reiser. Sparks flew instantly, and by 4 a.m., they were on a spontaneous date, eating grilled cheese and playing Spanish Scrabble until sunrise. Since then, they’ve made some bold choices together, including moving in together in 2005 and deciding not to have children. Seth has been asked many times why they chose to remain child-free, and during a March 2023 episode of the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, he shared his thoughtful reasons, earning widespread praise.
Speaking to host Steven Bartlett, the Golden Globes nominee said that not having children actually “helped him succeed” in Hollywood. At about 51 minutes into the podcast, Seth said, “There’s a whole huge thing I’m not doing, which is raising children.” Steven attempted to break into this thought process by saying, “But it might make you happier,” to which Seth quickly replied, “I don’t think it would.” The 40-year-old star added that he has obviously worked with a lot of children, in films like “Horton Hears a Who!” (2008), “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), “Monsters vs. Aliens” (2009), “The Simpsons” (1989) and “American Dad! “(2005). Nevertheless, he said, “Some people want kids. Some people don’t want kids.”
The Canadian-American actor explained that “a lot of people have kids even before they think about it.” Most people just seem to go through the routine process of a career followed by marriage followed by having kids. But neither Seth nor his wife were like that at any time in their relationship. They were always content not having kids. “The older we get, the happier and reaffirmed with our choice to not have kids,” Seth said, feeling relieved, “Thank God, we don’t have children.”
“We get to do whatever we want,” Seth continued. He even listed some of the things he and his wife can now do and would not have been able to if they had kids. “We are in the prime of our lives. We’re smarter than we’ve ever been. We understand ourselves more than we’ve ever had. We have the capacity to achieve the level of work and a level of communication and a level of care for one another and a lifestyle – we can live with one another,” he said before bursting into short hysterical laughter. The filmmaker reaffirmed that they are so happy they chose to remain child-free. “Me and my wife get a lot of active enjoyment out of not having kids than having kids.”
Seth’s free thinking touched the hearts of people who expressed admiration for him. A child-free woman, @ninabradshaw2267, commented that it was “really refreshing” for her to “hear someone speak about being child-free.” @mikehunthurst6953 affirmed, “Having kids is a choice, not a requirement.”
This article originally appeared 2 months ago.
