Seth Rogen stands firm on his decision to remain child-free despite the backlash

Actor Seth Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller have been happily married since 2011. As their relationship has grown, one thing has not: their desire to have a family. Rogen came under fire following an appearance on the The Diary Of A CEO podcast in March 2024, where he explained to host Steven Bartlett that he and Miller have decided to be child-free. “There's a whole huge thing I'm not doing, which is raising children,” he shared in the interview.

Rogen explained to Bartlett that he and Miller had chosen a different path than a lot of their friends. “I mean, a lot of people have kids before they even think about it, from what I've seen, honestly,” he said. “You just are told, you go through life, you get married, you have kids—it’s what happens.”

And it's a decision that has allotted them much more freedom. “Now, more than anything, the conversation is like, ‘Honestly, thank God we don’t have children,’” he shared in the interview. “We get to do whatever we want.”

“We are in the prime of our lives. We are smarter than we've ever been, we understand ourselves more than we ever have, we have the capacity to achieve a level of work and a level of communication and care for one another, and a lifestyle we can live with one another that we've never been able to live before. And we can just do that, and we don't have to raise a child—which the world does not need right now,” Rogen concluded.

Now, in a new interview with Esquire, Rogen is doubling down on the couple's decision not to have kids—and addressing the backlash they received for their choice.

"People really had strong takes on it, being like, Fuck this fucking guy. Who the fuck does he think he is not to have kids?" he told the publication about the criticism he received. “Well, if you hate me that much, why do you want more of me?" The actor further explained why the couple has stuck to their choice. "You should only have kids if you really want kids," he said, "and we just don’t really want kids. Time kept going by and the moment where we were like ‘Let’s do it!’ just kept not happening."

The Pineapple Express star further explained that the choice has also been inspired by watching friends start families. "I look at my friends with kids and honestly I feel like some of them are incredibly happy and fulfilled, and some of them seem like maybe they wish they had put a little more thought into it. I just didn’t want to be one of those people," he added.

When pressed about the concept that by not having kids, the couple may be risking not having someone to take care of him and Miller as they age, Rogen emphatically explained his thoughts.

"The most disturbing comment that I saw a lot of was ‘Who’s going to take care of you when you’re old?’ Which to me is very telling. Is that why you’re having kids? Because I have two things to say: One, that’s very selfish to create a human so someone can take care of you. And two, just because you have a kid, I hate to break it to you, that doesn’t mean they’re going to do that," he said.

Clearly, the couple's decision to remain child-free has stuck—and it's a choice unaffected by others' opinions.