If Dolly Parton Had a Daughter, She and Her Husband Carl Would Have Named Her Carla

Dolly Parton may not be the biological mother to a child of her own, but at this point, it's clear she's pretty much a surrogate mother to all of her country music fans.

And while the beloved singer seems to have no regrets about not having any children and the utmost faith that she's living her life exactly as she was meant to, like any decision in life, there's always the "what if..." thoughts that pop into your head from time to time. As we dug up in a 2014 interview with British news site The Guardian, Parton has actually spoken publicly about this path not taken: "You always wonder," she told the outlet, alluding to the child or children she never had. "My husband and I, when we first got married, we thought about if we had kids, what would they look like? Would they be tall — because he's tall? Or would they be little squats like me? If we'd had a girl, she was gonna be called Carla... Anyway, we talked about it, and we dreamed it, but it wasn't meant to be. Now that we're older? We're glad."

As to why she's pleased with their decision, she further reflected on how it would have short-circuited her career as a country artist. "I would have been a great mother, I think. I would probably have given up everything else. Because I would've felt guilty about that, if I'd have left them [to work, to tour]," she said. "Everything would have changed. I probably wouldn't have been a star."

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Indeed, the roads not taken in life sometimes make us question our choices. Out of all the ladies out there though, we're pretty sure the Smoky Mountain Songbird is living her truth.