# Who Are Some Famous People Who Were Married But Never Had Children? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266 "2005-04-20T17:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/41 "2005-04-25T21:48:11Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell married, divorced, and remarried, but never had any children. There were crude methods of birth control; not all of them effective. Withdrawl, douches, reusable condoms, rythem method. And of course people engaged in anal and oral sex (zero chance of pregnancy). And if all else failed women did get abortions. Alot of old remedy books contain recipes for concoctions to help women _bring on their menses_. Under common law abortion wasn’t illegal until the quickening (ie the when fetus starts kicking), usually around the 4th or 5th month. ---
**Author:** ![LuckySevens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@LuckySevens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LuckySevens)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/42 "2005-04-25T22:31:54Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Britney Spears and Jason Alexander. She’s pregnant with their first child. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/43 "2005-04-25T22:41:19Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > In fact, I extend the question to all the pre-modern childless couples mentioned in this thread. Many of them must have been infertile, but was that true for all of them? How did people in marital/heterosexual relationships manage to remain for decades “childless by choice” before the twentieth century? Just good old-fashioned abstinence? As for William & Mary… William III was mostly uninterested in women, having several male ‘favorites’. He did have one mistress, who bore him no children, but after his death she married and had children were her husband. Both Mary II and her sister Queen Anne probably suffered from congenital syphilis inherited from their father. Charles II actually impregnated Catherine of Braganza several times, but she kept miscarrying. The Stuarts had miserable luck producing legitimate offspring. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/44 "2005-04-25T22:55:17Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > There were crude methods of birth control; not all of them effective. Withdrawl, douches, reusable condoms, rythem method. And of course people engaged in anal and oral sex (zero chance of pregnancy). And if all else failed women did get abortions. Alot of old remedy books contain recipes for concoctions to help women _bring on their menses_. Under common law abortion wasn’t illegal until the quickening (ie the when fetus starts kicking), usually around the 4th or 5th month. Don’t forget wax and alum applied to the woman’s vagina. Not particularly comfortable, I’d imagine, but I can see how it would be effective. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/45 "2005-04-25T22:56:30Z")
> [@LuckySevens](#): > > She’s pregnant with their first child. She’s having a baby with her _second_ husband, Kevin Federline. Jason Allen Alexander was her _first_ husband, for 55 _hours_ in Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266/46 "2005-04-26T09:00:11Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > It seems there’s a lot of children’s book authors without children - Maurice Sendak is a lifelong bachelor. You may be onto something there – Hans Christian Andersen never procreated, did he? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-some-famous-people-who-were-married-but-never-had-children/300266.md?page=2)