I should start this answer by thanking you, on behalf of Zooey Deschanel, for asking about both actors and actresses.

When asked by Marie Claire magazine in 2013 if she was planning to have kids, the "New Girl" star said, "I don't think people ask men those questions." (She actually later had two children.)

Of course, there are reasons the question is more salient for women than for men, in that women need to take time off work to do so. And that seems to be a major factor: Betty White, Oprah Winfrey, Kate Walsh, Lily Tomlin and Cameron Diaz are just some of the actresses who've stated that their careers are at least part of the reason they chose not to have children.

"I didn't choose to have children because I'm focused on my career and I don't think as compulsive as I am that I could manage both," White said in a 2011 interview with CBS Sunday Morning.

There are other reasons to forego child rearing as well, and some stars have been quite candid about them. In a biography by A. Scott Berg, Katharine Hepburn is quoted as saying: "I would have been a terrible mother because I'm basically a very selfish human being. Not that that has stopped most people going off and having children."

Men do occasionally come up in this conversation. George Clooney used to come in at the top of the men's list (until he and his wife's recent announcement of twins on the way), and though that was often chalked up to his legendary playboy lifestyle, I'll point out that Jay Leno hasn't had kids either, and he's been with his wife Mavis since 1980.

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