Carly Pearce Reveals She Doesn't Want Kids

Carly Pearce says she doesn't want to become a parent.

"I don't want children. I'm totally okay with that," the singer says on TikTok, in response to a question from a fan about her future family plans.

The singer is comfortable with her decision, but she expressed some frustration with societal norms about parenthood. "I think we should normalize people that truly know they don't wanna have kids. I don't think it should be for everyone just because society tells us to," she continues.

She also clarified that it's not that she doesn't like children — in fact, "I love children. I love my friends' children," Pearce says. "I'm a great aunt. But it was never my dream."

Why Doesn't Carly Pearce Want Children?

Carly Pearce says that she wants to focus solely on her country music career.

"My dream was to pursue country music and live on the road," she says. "And I know that some people do that [as parents] and they're great at it, but it's never been my dream."

Pearce is not alone in choosing career pursuits over having kids. Notably, Dolly Parton — a longtime career inspiration for Pearce, who was the one to formally invite her to join the Grand Ole Opry in 2021 — is child-free.

Parton has said that she and her husband Carl Dean originally hoped to have kids, but it never worked out. Now, she says that it wasn't God's plan for her to have children, in order for her to work on large-scale projects that benefitted kids everywhere, like the Imagination Library.

Women in general face an uphill battle in country music: They've historically had demonstrably fewer opportunities at radio and festival bookings. For moms, that bias is even more pronounced.

Why Is It Harder For Moms to Be Successful in Country Music?

Pearce didn't get into the weeds about the data points in her post, but we will. In late 2025, Taste of Country looked at the career trajectories of 25 different female stars' radio careers before and after having kids, and what we found out was depressing.

Decades ago, it was possible for women to grow their radio careers after having kids (Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn even came into the genre as teen moms and became superstars!). There's not one single example of that in modern-day country. The biggest examples of moms having success at radio are Carrie Underwood and Lady A (Hillary Scott), and in both cases, their radio success declined after they grew their families.

Ageism is undoubtedly part of the problem, but younger stars — like Gabby Barrett and Maddie & Tae — have seen a career decline after having babies, too.

That's simply not a problem the singers' male counterparts face. Artists like Thomas Rhett and Jordan Davis have even seen a career boost from releasing dad-focused songs. When a male artist has a child, he can benefit by making family life a part of his brand. When a female artist has a child, it's a career liability.

The biggest female radio stars of today — Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley, Megan Moroney, Kelsea Ballerini and Pearce — are all child-free at this point in their careers. And given the data, it's easy to understand why any female artist would delay starting a family, or choose not to have children altogether.

Does Carly Pearce Want to Get Married Again?

Pearce's 2020 divorce from Michael Ray — after just eight months of marriage — drew massive media attention and inspired her career-changing 29: Written in Stone album.

The experience put the singer through the ringer of tabloid fodder and fan speculation, and her divorce stayed in the news cycle for years.

Even given all that, Pearce — who has been dating her boyfriend Jordan Karcher for over a year — says she's not burned on the idea of tying the knot again one day.

"I absolutely wanna get married again and intend to get married again," she says, "And I will never let my past hinder me from doing that again. So what, I was divorced? It was my start-up marriage. And now I get to have the real one."