Ina Garten explains why she never had kids with husband Jeffrey: ‘Would have been difficult’

Ina Garten is at peace with her decision to not have children with husband Jeffrey Garten. “I think it would have been difficult, and I think Jeffrey and I would have had a different life together,” the celebrity chef, 78, shared in a new interview with the New York Times. “I’m not saying it’s a better life or a worse life, but there were times when Jeffrey decided that he wanted to start a business in Japan, so he moved to Japan.” Ina Garten opened up about her marriage to Jeffrey Garten in a recent interview. Instagram/inagarten Ina, seen here in 2026, detailed their decision not to have children. Getty Images At the time, Ina was living in East Hampton. The two travelled “back and forth” to make things work. “We figured it out,” she recalled. “I think that probably couldn’t have happened if we had kids, and I couldn’t have stayed long hours at the store, doing catering and running the store.” The couple eventually married in 1968. Before her big breakthrough, Ina had been working for the government when she saw a classified ad for a gourmet foot store in West Hampton, called The Barefoot Contessa, for sale. She transformed the store, began catering and went on to author nearly a dozen bestselling cookbooks and host a successful Food Network series. The couple married in 1968. Instagram/inagarten The cookbook author explained that their careers would have made having kids difficult. Getty Images “I think it would have been much harder,” Ina told the NYT of what her life would have looked like if she had children. “I’ve never looked back on the decision and thought, ‘I should have done it differently.’ I understand how my friends have wonderful families, and they really enjoy being parents, but it’s just not something I ever wanted to do.” In her 2024 memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens,” Ina also revealed that an unhappy childhood contributed to her decision not to have kids. Want more celebrity and pop culture news? Start your day with Page Six Daily. Thanks for signing up! Ina has said in previous interviews that her unhappy childhood contributed to her decision not to become a mother. Instagram/inagarten Ina started her culinary empire with a food store in the Hamptons. Instagram/inagarten “When I got married, I just thought I would be the wife and we would have children and we would have a traditional relationship,” she told Hoda Kotb in 2025. “In my 20s, I kind of resisted having children. I was like, why would I want to re-create that nightmare that I just came from? And I thought that’s what life at home with children would be. (It) never occurred to me that other people’s lives were different because that was my experience.” Ina added in her book, “And then one day, maybe when I was around 25, I thought,’ I just don’t want to have children.’ I just don’t want to do that. And thank God [Jeffrey] is amenable to what I would I want. He wants me to be happy and it was OK.” Community Guidelines Welcome to the Page Six Community! Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space. In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience. Simply put, keep it civil. Your post will/might be rejected if it contains: Spam Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language and threats of any kind Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice: Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk So, how can you be a power user? Stay on topic and share your passion. Feel free to elaborate to get your point across. 'Like' or 'Dislike' when you are filled with emotions! Protect your community. Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules. Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the freedom of reach!