22 Women Who Have Bravely Gone Through Life Without Having Kids

Wow, that's so brave.

On Monday, the newly elected premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, held her first press conference in her new position. It took 15 minutes for her to be asked about why she didn't have children.

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Because it's just so bizarre Berejiklian has managed to live a fulfilling life without children, we decided to look at other ladies who have managed to get by without spawning.

1. Jennifer Aniston

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After 47 fake pregnancies and headlines every other week exclaiming "Twins for Jen!", Jennifer has remained childless and seems damn fine about it, though everyone is still convinced she's actually probably lying about being happy.

2. Helen Mirren

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"I'm just not interested. I've no maternal instinct whatsoever. And I don't think I'm so unusual. I think an awful lot of women don't really want children but feel they ought to," Mirren once said in an interview. Queen.

3. Oprah Winfrey

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Oprah is one of the richest women on the planet, and has had a successful career spanning decades. As her career took off, kids were never on the agenda for her. "If I had kids, my kids would hate me. Something [in my life] would have had to suffer and it would've probably been them," she said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

4. Winona Ryder

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After the huge success of Stranger Things, Ryder said she was still questioned about her role as Joyce Byers. "I’m getting asked a lot, ‘You don’t have kids, so how do you know how to act like a mother?'" she told New York Times. Weird to think actors sometimes... play roles... that they may not have their own personal experience with??? But somehow they can still do it?? Like it's their job or something??

5. Julia Gillard

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Australia's first female prime minister faced constant scrutiny over her child-free life, because you know, obviously you have to be a mother if you're in the top job.

6. Renée Zellweger

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In a 2016 interview with Australian radio show Rove and Sam, Zellweger commented on the societal pressures placed on women to "achieve it all". "Women feel judged if they don't accomplish everything," she said.

7. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi

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Ellen and her wife, Portia, have both spoken about children, but both decided their life was going to be absolutely fine without becoming parents. Crazy, right?!

8. Stevie Nicks

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Rock and roll icon Stevie Nicks has lived one hell of a life, and her focus has always been her art and career. "With kids, your focus changes. I don't want to go to PTA meetings," she once said in an interview with InStyle, and honestly, truer words have never been spoken.

9. Kylie Minogue

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The Aussie songstress has had a super-successful career spanning three decades and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Yet for some reason people are still obsessed with why she hasn't spawned mini-Minogues.

10. Julie Bishop

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"I feel incredibly lucky that I've had the kind of career that is so consuming that I don't feel I have a void in my life," the Australian politican said in an interview. And here people were thinking child-free ladies were the unlucky ones.

11. Cameron Diaz

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The actress has a firm mantra of "never say never", but doesn't bow to societal pressures. "I think women are afraid to say that they don't want children because they're going to get shunned. I have more girlfriends who don't have kids than those that do," Diaz said in an interview with Cosmo.

12. Diane Sawyer

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The prominent television journalist has had quite the stellar career and has no regrets about having no children of her own. As in, yes, her career and rewarding life was definitely enough for her without changing dirty nappies and dealing with squealing babies. Shocking.

13. Katharine Hepburn

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In the book Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg, when questioned about children, Hepburn had no regrets. "I would have been a terrible mother," she said.

14. Betty White

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Beloved actress Betty White has lived success after success, but never regretted not having kids, citing her career as her biggest priority. Who knows, maybe when Jen Aniston hits Betty's age, the magazines may leave her alone, too.

15. Candace Bushnell

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The novelist and TV producer likened her passion toward her career as to being a mother. "I knew when I was young that if I had to make a choice between being married and being a writer, I would have chosen to be a writer," she said in a Facebook Q&A.

16. Kim Cattrall

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The Sex and The City actor has previously spoken out about the term "childless" being offensive. “It’s the ‘less’ that is offensive - childless - it sounds like you’re ‘less’ because you haven’t had a child," she said in a radio interview. And given her successful career, Cattrall is definitely not "less" in any sort of way.

17. Ashley Judd

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The actor and humans rights activist has focused her energy and time over the years to focus on orphaned and abandoned children. "I do not need to go making ‘my own’ babies when there are so many orphaned or abandoned children who need love, attention, time, and care," she said in her memoir All That Is Bitter And Sweet.

18. Carole Radziwill

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Radziwill married her late husband Anthony knowing he couldn't have kids. The journalist, reporter, and Real Housewives of New York star has had quite the career, from reporting in Israel during the Gulf War, to starring in the latter seasons of Real Housewives. I mean honestly, what a damn life.

19. Anjelica Huston

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From winning Academy Awards to publishing memoirs, Huston has previously said while there had been times she wanted kids, there were also times she was grateful that it hadn't happened for her. I assume Academy Awards are a lot easier to keep clean than kids anyway.

20. Chelsea Handler

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As a comedian, actor, producer, writer, and television host, Handler has been vocal about the fact she enjoys not being a mother. "I’m sitting here in my spacious home with no children. I’m having a cocktail at 10 a.m., going over some paperwork," she said in a clip for her show Chelsea, posted on Facebook last year. Living the dream.

21. Margaret Cho

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The stand-up comedian, actor, and fashion designer once famously said, “I do not want children. When I see children, I feel nothing. I have no maternal instinct. I ovulate sand." Same tbh.

22. Gloria Steinem

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Prominent feminist, journalist, and activist Gloria Steinem never felt like she needed kids in order to lead a fulfilling life. "I'm completely happy not having children. I mean, everybody does not have to live in the same way," she said on Chelsea Lately.