Why Diane Keaton Chose Not to Marry and Became a Mom in Her 50s

Despite having had long-term relationships over the years, the late Hollywood icon thought marriage was simply not in the cards for her. Still, she decided she wanted to become a mother much later in life.

Diane Keaton — the beloved Hollywood icon who left the world reeling in grief following the news of her sudden death — had quite a few high-profile relationships early in her career, but the actress never wanted to be a wife.

During a 2019 cover interview with People, Keaton opened up about embracing life as a single woman. "Today I was thinking about this," she said, reflecting on marriage. "I'm 73, and I think I'm the only one in my generation, and maybe before, who has been a single woman all her life."

Still, her single status never bothered her. "[I'm not sad] because I think that I needed more of a maternal aspect," she continued. "I don't think it would have been a good idea for me to have married, and I'm really glad I didn't, and I'm sure they're happy about it, too."

Keaton dated Al Pacino, who played her onscreen husband in "The Godfather" films, Woody Allen, and Warren Beatty, among others, but she never wed. She felt she lacked the "nurturing" quality that she thought a husband would require.

"I'm an oddball," she said. I remember one day in high school, this guy came up to me and said, 'One day you're going to make a good wife.' And I thought, 'I don't want to be a wife. No.'"

Keaton may have never married, but she did start her own family when she adopted her children — daughter Dexter, 29, and son Duke, 25 — in 1996 and 2001, respectively. "I didn't think that I was ever going to be prepared to be a mother," she told Ladies' Home Journal in 2008.

"Motherhood was not an urge I couldn't resist. It was more like a thought I'd been thinking for a very long time. So I plunged in," she continued. Keaton admitted that she postponed motherhood because she wanted to be in a secure relationship first.

"I wanted to be in a good relationship. Those good relationships that are strong and substantive never happened for me, and that prolonged my indecisiveness," she explained. "When I fell in love that took over my life for a long time."

While the actress admitted she could have done things differently romance-wise, she still lived a relatively normal and happy life with her kids, both of whom have largely stayed out of the spotlight.

Still, they made rare appearances alongside their mother to support her during milestone career moments. Keaton said her son and daughter were never interested in her work, which she thought was "very healthy." "We live a relatively normal — well, sort of normal — life," she remarked in 2022.