Seth Rogen believes that his and his wife’s decision to forgo having children can be linked to their success in life and their careers.
The “Pineapple Express” actor, who married Lauren Miller Rogen in 2011, says their approach to starting a family differs from what most people believe because they have chosen not to have children.
Rogen shared that not entering into parenthood has given him and Lauren the freedom to do whatever they want to do, noting that they are happy with their decision.
Read on for more details.
Seth Rogen Says Not Having Kids Has Helped Him ‘Succeed’
Rogen shared that his and his wife’s decision not to have any kids has positively impacted their lives.
During a recent appearance on the “Diary of A CEO” podcast with Steven Bartlett, the “Superbad” star, 40, attributed his success to the decision not to have kids.
“That has helped me succeed as well, definitely,” he shared. “There’s a whole huge thing I’m not doing, which is raising children.”
Rogen continued by saying that the choice was not made accidentally because he and his wife had always discussed it and that, at the moment, they are “grateful” they don’t have children.
“Some people want kids, some people don’t want kids,” he explained. “Honestly, you just are told, ‘You go through life, you get married, you have kids.’ That’s what happens. And me and my wife, neither of us were like that.”
Rogen continued, “Honestly, the older we get, the more happy and reaffirmed we are with our choice to not have kids.”
Seth Rogen Relishes The ‘Freedom’ Being Child-Free Affords
According to the actor, one benefit of not having kids is gaining the freedom to pursue any interests he and his wife may have.
“Now more than anything, the conversation is like, ‘Honestly, thank God we don’t have children.’ We get to do whatever we want, we’re in the prime of our lives,” he said.
The actor continued by listing his and his wife’s numerous accomplishments with children out of the pictures, noting that he has more free time than his friends and colleagues, who are parents.
“I’m not saying that kids don’t bring them joy,” he acknowledged. “But Me and my wife seem to get a lot more active enjoyment out of not having kids than anyone I know seems to get out of having kids.”
Why The Couple Made The Decision To Not Have Kids
In his 2021 interview with Howard Stern, Rogen discussed why he and his wife Lauren decided against having children. Rogen agreed with Stern’s assertion that he wouldn’t have had the time to be a good father because of the overwhelming amount of projects he was working on.
“Oh no! For sure not,” he said. “Or I wouldn’t be able to do all this work that I like. People are always like, ‘How do you do so much?’ The answer is ‘I don’t have kids.'”
After revealing that his wife wants children less than he does, the actor said that it wouldn’t have been a deal-breaker if he had wanted children and she didn’t.
“No. I think I can wrap my head around it, but she’s just like ‘aaahhh nooo,'” he shared. “I don’t know anyone who gets as much happiness out of their kids as we get out of our none kids.”
He continued by narrating how he and Lauren spent most of their Saturday mornings naked in bed, watching movies, and smoking weed, adding that having kids would make this impossible.
“And why? There are enough kids out there. Who needs more kids? Who looks at the planet right now and thinks, ‘you know what we need? More f**king people,’ like that’s gonna be a confounding thing to me,” he concluded.
Seth Rogen Speaks On Self-Doubt And Criticism
Elsewhere in his appearance on the “Diary Of A CEO” podcast with Steven Bartlett, the “Step Brothers” actor weighed in on anxiety and self-doubt that affects him.
Rogen stated that, in his opinion and based on his personal experience, self-doubt inhibits everyone who engages in creative work to some extent. “For me, it comes in waves,” he said. “If you make a thing everyone likes, it gets a little better. If you make the thing everyone f**cking hates, it gets a little worse.”
He added, “for me, it’s something that is present but I try not to let it stop me from doing the things that I think are interesting and the things that I think I’ll enjoy watching.”
The actor also acknowledged that the criticism that arises periodically hurts him. “Oh yeah! Of course, it hurts everyone,” he noted. “I think that if most critics know how much it hurts the people that made the things they are writing about, they’ll second-guess the way they write these things.”
