Ina Garten, 77, vulnerably addresses her decision not to have children I cant imagine my life any other way

Ina Garten revealed more about her decision to not have children with her husband, Jeffrey – as she shared why she can’t imagine her life ‘any other way.’

The famed Food Network star, 77, appeared on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast on Tuesday, as the two indulged in an hour-long conversation about cooking, marriage, and more.

During the episode, as the two were talking about Ina’s fraught relationship with her father, the topic of children came up.

‘We fetishize marriage, especially cis, straight marriage, but we also fetishize children, and people who have them, and you don’t have children,’ Poehler said.

‘What is the best thing about not having children?’ she asked.

‘Not being responsible for them,’ Ina said with a laugh. ‘Not having teenagers.’

The comedian then noted that there have been multiple studies that show that married couples without children are the happiest.

‘It’s amazing to me that I made that decision so young, and that thank God, Jeffrey was okay with it, but I just can’t imagine my life any other way,’ Ina explained.

Ina Garten appeared on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast on Tuesday, as the two indulged in an hour-long conversation about cooking, marriage, and more

‘It’s amazing to me that I made that decision so young, and that thank God, Jeffrey was okay with it, but I just can’t imagine my life any other way,’ Ina explained

‘I’ve done what I wanted to do, I’ve had a wonderful time,’ she said.

Ina has been married to Jeffrey, 79, since 1968, and have been together for over 50 years now.

They share a home in East Hampton, New York, where she shot her iconic Barefoot Contessa series.

The candid conversation about children comes as Ina discussed her childhood in her 2024 memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

She detailed that her father had been abusive towards her and her brother, Ken, and her difficult relationship with her mother.

In an interview with Hoda Kotb while promoting the memoir, she described her younger years as ‘cold’ and ‘lonely,’ and said she was ‘so restricted’ as a child by her parents, Charles and Florence Rosenberg.

When Hoda asked Ina what would happen if she ‘scraped her knee’ as a child, the author replied: ‘No hugs and kisses in my family, it was a very cold, lonely existence,’ before admitting she’s ‘not sure’ that she even knew if her mother loved her.

‘I don’t know that she was capable. I was really so restricted as a child. I was always told, whatever I wanted to do wasn’t a good idea, so I wasn’t myself,’ Ina explained, as Hoda touched upon the physical abuse inflicted by her father.

During the episode, as the two were talking about Ina’s fraught relationship with her father, the topic of children came up

The two have been married since 1968, and have been together for over 50 years now

‘I think I was terrified that he was going to kill me, and what I realize now is it astonishes me that I didn’t have the courage as a child to fight back,’ she said, before sharing that he told her: ‘No one is ever going to love you.’

‘Isn’t that stunning? He was mad about something, I have no idea what. He said, “Nobody will ever love you.” Do you know what I love? I love walking up Madison Avenue and someone leans in and says, “I love you.” It is this great cosmic joke to me, it’s like, “Oops, I guess he was wrong.”‘

Ina went on to confirm that her father did apologize to her much later in life, as she recalled: ‘He just turned to me and said, “I don’t know what I was thinking.” And I thought, “Wow he’s been torturing himself all this time.” It meant he said, “I’m sorry.” I thought that was an incredibly difficult thing for a father to say.’

However, she never had such a conversation with her mother, Florence, and said she’s not even sure that she ‘acknowledged’ her career.