When Dolly Parton‘s cousin Bryan Seaver announced her death on Tuesday. He remembered her fondly as an “aunt, sister, sister, aunt grandma to one generation and Gigi to the next.”
Yet there is one title that Dolly did not have: mother – after a heartbreaking life fertility struggle kept her from having children.
The country music legend, who died this week at the age of 80however, had millions of honorary children around the world, who grew up listening to her music and viewing her as a role model.
Dolly also made sure she helped the lives of many minors around the world, claiming that she believed ‘God did not let me have children so that all the children could be mine.”
While the Jolene singer quickly made peace with the fact that she wouldn’t be a mother, she previously revealed that she and late husband Carl Dean initially planned to become parents.
She shared, “In the beginning, when my husband and I were dating, and when we got married, we assumed we would have children,” adding that Carl had even picked out names for their future children.
How Dolly Parton’s heartbreaking fertility problems and battle with depression after a hysterectomy in the 1980s led her to dedicate her life to helping minors (pictured in 1983)
Dolly shared, “In the beginning, when my husband and I were dating, and when we got married, we assumed we would have children,” adding that Carl even picked out names
However, in the early 1980s, Dolly began experiencing significant abdominal pain and bleeding.
Her condition landed her in the hospital several times, and after collapsing on stage during a concert in Indianapolis in 1984, she was eventually diagnosed with endometriosis.
Endometriosis occurs when cells normally found in the uterine lining attach to other parts of the pelvic area, causing scar tissue, pain and inflammation.
The condition affects one in ten women and can make it more difficult to become pregnant.
For Dolly, she eventually had a partial hysterectomy at the age of 38, which left her infertile and led to a struggle of binge eating, excessive alcohol consumption and battling suicidal thoughts.
In her book Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, she revealed the impact the surgery had on her, writing: ‘Suddenly I was a middle-aged woman. I’ve been through a dark time.’
Still, she credited her faith with getting her through the tough times, telling Closer Weekly, “I’ve been hurt like everyone else. I’m not always happy…sometimes God just has to strike you down.
“He almost said, ‘Sit down, because we have some things to take care of!’
But while she was “grateful that it happened when I was still young enough to come back,” she confessed that sometimes she still mourned the life she never had.
Dolly explained: ‘There are still times when I don’t want to get up in the morning, but then I wouldn’t have been able to have the career I loved with children.’
The Queen of Country went on to build an illustrious career in which she earned eleven Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, along with nominations for two Academy Awards, six Golden Globes and a Tony.
“Because I didn’t have children and my husband was quite independent, I had freedom,” she said Oprah Winfrey during a 2020 episode of Apple TV+’s The Oprah Conversation.
“So I think a lot of my whole success is due to the fact that I was free to work.”
Dolly founded the Imagination Library, which sends one book per month to every enrolled child from birth until kindergarten, in an effort to encourage literacy
Dolly also discussed the creation of the Imagination Library, which sends one book per month to every enrolled child from birth through kindergarten, in an effort to encourage literacy.
“If I hadn’t had the freedom to work, I wouldn’t have done everything I’ve done,” Dolly explained. “I wouldn’t be in a position to do all the things I’m doing now.”
She added, speaking to People magazine: ‘I’ve been moving so fast my whole life. And I just start thinking, “How did I even have a life? How did I even do it?”
‘I never had children, so at least I didn’t feel any guilt. I am grateful to have seen my dreams come true.”
Despite never having children of her own, Dolly spent her life surrounded by young people because of her close bond with her family.
She told Billboard in 2014, “I’m very close to my family — five of my younger siblings lived with me and Carl for many years — and we’re very close to our nieces and nephews.
“Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, ‘Aren’t you glad we don’t have children?’ Now we don’t have any children to worry about anymore.’
Dolly suffered a devastating blow when Carl died last March at the age of 82. His cause of death was never released, with Dolly stating at the time: ‘Carl and I spent many wonderful years together.
‘Words cannot do justice to the love we have shared for over sixty years. Thank you for your prayers and condolences.”
In contrast to the effervescent country legend, Carl was a more reclusive figure who shunned the touring life and was rarely seen in public.
Yet they adored each other behind closed doors, with Dolly saying part of the secret of their enduring love was that they were pleasantly different from each other.
Dolly said: ‘He’s not musical, but he’s kind, funny and romantic. His poems are sweet and sincere. And that’s the kind of thing that has made us happy over the years: two old goats together.’
“They say opposites attract, and that’s true,” Dolly explained. ‘We are completely opposite, but that’s what makes it fun. I never know what he’s going to say or do. He always surprises me.’
She later shed more light on why her husband avoided the spotlight, which he “never wanted to be in,” in a 2023 episode of What Would Dolly Do? Radio on Apple Music.
‘Early on, when we first got married, he came with me to a BMI song of the year [event]And he came out of there taking off his tuxedo, his tie and everything, and said, “Don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things, ’cause I’m not going.” I never asked him and he never did,” she recalls.
Dolly and Carl spent six decades together before his death. Now, a year and a half after his death, the couple will be reunited again, with Dolly being buried next to her husband.
Dolly and Carl spent six decades together before his death. Now, a year and a half after his death, the couple will be reunited again, with Dolly being buried next to her husband.
After her death, it was revealed that Dolly had been privately battling cancer.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity to everything she touched,” said a statement from her reps.
“After bravely enduring a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, surrounded by loved ones.”
Her reps also highlighted the extraordinary reach of Dolly’s “unparalleled generosity,” noting that she touched the lives of countless people she would never meet and was always willing to “lend a helping hand.”
“Whether it is the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding the research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people has been the guiding force for her lasting impact.”
The star’s death was first confirmed in an Instagram video posted by her cousin Bryan, who also acted as her head of security.
She died Tuesday morning after being admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville on Friday with autoimmune and kidney problems, according to TMZ.
As news of Dolly’s rapidly deteriorating condition spread, her loved ones rushed to Nashville to be by her side, but not everyone was able to reach her while she was still alive.
“This video announcement is something that Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Bryan said.
He praised his aunt for “living in the light” and said she was now “in the arms of Jesus” and in the company of her late husband Carl, as well as her parents and “countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in heaven.”
Bryan fondly remembers joining Dolly on tour as a child in the 1980s, saying that she “opened doors not only for me but for her entire family to reach the potential that we didn’t even know was possible.”
He characterized her as ‘a farmer’s wife, just like her father. He tilled the soil. She cultivated songs and happiness. Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful plush cotton bed, because after a lifetime of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.’
Bryan ended his video by saying, “Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly, Aunt Grandma, Gigi.
“May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you.’
