Ina Garten, 78, has spoken candidly about her decision to remain child-free with her husband, Jeffrey, stating that she is "really happy" with the choice. The celebrity cook explained that starting a family would have significantly complicated the management of her successful career, which included her long-running Food Network show, "Barefoot Contessa."
"I think it would have been difficult, and I think Jeffrey and I would have had a different life together," Garten told The New York Times in a recent interview. She noted that her husband's career sometimes required significant travel, including a period where he lived in Japan. "I was in East Hampton, we went back and forth and we figured it out." Garten emphasized that without children, she could dedicate more time to her specialty food shop, also named Barefoot Contessa, in East Hampton.
"I’ve never looked back on the decision and thought, I should have done it differently," Garten stated, acknowledging that while friends have fulfilling family lives, parenthood was never something she desired. "I’m really happy that I didn’t."
Garten also touched on her difficult childhood, describing it as "lonely" and marked by strained relationships with her parents. She characterized her mother as "disconnected" and her father as "always mad" and controlling. "What goes in early goes in deep, and I’m always trying to recreate what I craved when I was a kid," she reflected. Garten previously detailed these experiences in her 2024 memoir, "Be Ready When The Luck Happens," alleging that her father was abusive and once told her, "No one is ever going to love you."
She recalled her father's later apology, "I don't know what I was thinking," which she interpreted as an admission of regret. However, she never had a similar conversation with her mother, and is uncertain if her mother ever acknowledged her career. Garten and Jeffrey married in 1968. She initially worked as a White House budget analyst before purchasing her East Hampton food store in 1978. The business grew into a culinary empire, leading to her first cookbook in 1999, frequent television appearances, and eventually her own show, which concluded in 2021 after 29 seasons. She has since published 13 cookbooks.