The Reason Bonnie Tyler Never Had Kids

Bonnie Tyler always envisioned children in her life, but she has come to terms with knowing it wasn't in the cards for her. The popular '80s star and her longtime husband, British judoka Robert Sullivan, took their time to start their family, but they faced fertility struggles. At first, it seemed like everything was going according to plan. When the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" singer was 39, she fell pregnant shortly after they started trying. "For the first time, I felt maternal and we stopped all precautions, and it happened straight away," she told the Mirror in 2025.

But a couple of months into her pregnancy, Tyler had a miscarriage. "[It was] bloody awful at the time," she told The Guardian in 2012. Despite the heartbreak, the Wales native decided to focus on her work. "I'm not the type to dwell on things. The following weekend I was in Paris for a TV show, then I just moved on," she said in the Mirror interview. That wasn't the end of their family-planning goals, though. Tyler and Sullivan decided to try again.

They tried for two years, but she never got pregnant again. "We just thought it wasn't meant to be," she told The Guardian. Tyler chose to focus on her marriage and see the silver lining in the experience. "It's weird, but I count myself blessed to have known that I could be pregnant, that I have been pregnant," she told the Mirror. Perhaps things could have worked out differently had she started trying earlier, but she wasn't ready before then. And she has no regrets. 

Even though Bonnie Tyler wanted to have a family with Robert Sullivan, she knew she wanted to enjoy her marriage before having children. When she tied the knot in 1973 after a four-year courtship, she was just 22. From the get-go, she and the 1972 Olympic athlete decided they would wait seven years. But when the time was up, Tyler's career was reaching its peak following the release of her 1977 album, "The World Starts Tonight."

It wasn't the right time. "My career was massive. We put it off and put it off until I was 39 and he was 41," she told The Guardian. Then it didn't happen, but their marriage remained just as strong. "He's marvellous. He's at the side of the stage singing every word," she told the Mirror. Even though they have been together for more than five decades, the essence of their relationship has never changed. "I am still very much in love with him and he with me. We never fall out. He is very easy on the eye, which helps," she added.

That doesn't mean their marriage hasn't faced any challenges. In 2016, a devoted follower of Tyler's named Meghann Pernot claimed she had been having an 18-month affair with Sullivan. "I feel guilty ... I could have said no and stopped it in the beginning," she told the Mirror. Tyler has never publicly addressed Pernot's claims and continued to gush over her husband afterward. Regardless of what happened, Tyler and Sullivan made it through the scandal.