Chappell Roan says having kids is hellish โ and not all parents are upset about it.
โAll of my friends who have kids are in hell,โ the โHot to Go!โย singer shared on a March 26 episode of the podcast โCall Her Daddy.โ
โI actually donโt know anyone who is like, happy and has children at this age,โ said Roan, 27, adding, โI have literally not met anyone who is happy, anyone who has light in their eyes, anyone who has slept.โ
โThis is not looking too good,โ responded Alex Cooper, the host of โCall Her Daddy.โ
Many exhausted moms with flickering light in their eyes supported Roan.
- โMothers are so tired! Itโs true.โ
- โYESSS. Finally someone speaking my language.โ
- โ49-year-mom of grown children. You are not wrong, girl. Being a mom in this country is … rough.โ
- โI felt this in my soul.โ
- โI love my child with my entire heart but everything she said was absolutely true for me.โ
- โShe is speaking the truth. Being a parent is hell.โ
- โYou have to understand: In the midwest, a lot of people get married and have kids out of obligation, not because they actually want kids. I know a lot of people like that and theyโre miserable.โ
Happy, well-rested and bright-eyed parents disagreed.
- โHaving children = greatest honor of my life.โ
- โHappy mother of three here!โ
- โItโs so much more nuanced than โMotherhood is the best/worst.โ It is hard and she just showed that sheโs not the person for her friends to vent to about the hard parts because sheโs judging.โ
- โItโs valid, but I personally donโt know anyone who lost their spark after having kids. All of them love it.โ
- โAs tired as Iโve ever been, nothing has filled my cup more than the snuggles, the giggles, and growth of my kiddos. Helping them become good and kind humans is the honor of my life and Iโm a happy working mom.โ
- โCompletely tone deaf.โ
Who is happier โ parents or non-parents?
As Jennifer Glass, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told CNBC, feeling โsatisfiedโ with the decision to have children does not necessarily equal โhappiness.โ
โItโs not the same thing as financial well-being, good physical health or good emotional health,โย Glass told CNBC.
According to CNBC, โResearch shows that there is a โhappiness bumpโ that parents experience right after a baby is born. But that tends to dissipate over the course of a year, Glass saysโ โ as it slowly sinks in that parenting is more than just cooing at a baby.
Glass noted in a 2017 study that she co-authored, that parenting is harder in the U.S. compared to other countries, given our lack of parental leave and other benefits for moms and dads.
While the research was published nearly 10 years ago, it’s still true in 2025: Parents in the U.S. aren’t guaranteed paid parental leave and the cost of childcare is โuntenableโ for many, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Although Roan told โCall Her Daddyโ that she and her โawesomeโ mom friends have โsuch different lives,โ they still party โย even if they have to hire babysitters.
โTheyโre mothers, theyโre f—— busy and they have jobs and lives,โ said Roan, joking, โWhen I go home, I love reminiscing about destroying public property with them and doing some illegal s—,โ she joked.
