Whoever said the horse has to come before the carriage? It could have been the other way around and we would have never known! The same thing goes for love, marriage, and babies. It used to be that having a child before marriage was something that would get someone a scarlet letter on their chest. Essentially, anything before marriage would have gotten a lot of decent women in trouble and left with a reputation that downright ruined their lives.

However, as society has advanced, so have women and we no longer feel the pressure to follow rules made up by who knows who.

The stigma that was once behind the act of having a child out of wedlock has been ripped to shreds. Sure, there are still people out there who believe that having a baby before being married ruins a woman but we all know that just won't fly in our generation. Women are out there doing whatever makes them happy whether it be having babies without a ring on their finger, being a working mom, or a stay-at-home mom. Even working in jobs that are particularly seen as a "man's" job.

The point is, the rules have changed and it is no longer a requirement for women to be married before having children. There is a good and bad side to this but one thing is for sure: there are some adorable little kids out there regardless if their parents were married or not. 

20 Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis met her now-husband Ashton Kutcher on the set of their hit series That 70’s Show, but things didn’t escalate until years later.

The couple started dating in 2012 and Kutcher became officially divorced with Demi Moore by 2013. And in 2014, the couple welcomed their first child: a baby girl. Still, fans saw no sign of marriage or even a proposal. But this couple is like Houdini; they were all of a sudden married in 2015 and had another child a year later.

Kunis is surprisingly kind of traditional so fans were a little shocked when she ended up pregnant before marriage. However, when you know, you know.

19 Kristen Bell

Mom of two, Kristen Bell, surprised us by falling in love with funnyman Dax Shepard. At first, fans thought it was an odd pairing but then we saw how magnificent they are together.

Fans were sure they were headed towards the altar but they were a little held up when Bell announced that she was pregnant. The couple also announced that they would not legally get married until DOMA was overturned, which the couple kept their word. However, while they waited to get married, they got pregnant a second time with their daughter Lincoln. She was born a short seven months before they got hitched. They now have two kids and hopefully more in the future.

18 Kim Kardashian West

Kim Kardashian West sure has had a string of marriages and failed relationships but when she and Kanye West finally got together, it was honestly like a match made in heaven. They wasted no time having adorable kids. One of which was born before the couple tied the knot. Cutie North West was a special guest at her mom and dad's wedding in Florence, Italy.

Fun fact: Florence was also where North was conceived. We can only assume the two chose this place because of that fact. They have since then added two more babies to their family and hopefully more in the future.

17 Madonna

Singer Madonna has never been one for tradition. In fact, it’s safe to say she sometimes even goes out of her way to make people feel uncomfortable. That’s just who she is — she's constantly pushing for change. The singer did just that when she started dating director Guy Ritchie and adopted a British accent along the way. She also ended up pregnant with her son Rocco. By the time the couple got married, Rocco was already four months old. The couple has since split (not so amicably) and has gone on to have some awkward custody battles over their son.

16 Jessica Simpson

Everyone thought Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey were on track to make the cutest babies ever but after a huge wedding and several seasons of a reality show documenting their marriage, the couple split.

Simpson—after a few rough relationships—finally met and married her now husband Eric Johnson. However, things happened a little out of order.

The couple got married in 2014 but that was AFTER having two kids; a son and a daughter. This was surprising to most because Simpson always talked about religion and the importance of not having premarital relations. Guess when you’ve already been married once before, it no longer matters.

15 Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman has always been pretty private about her relationships. So, it comes as no surprise that many people didn’t even know she was in a serious relationship when she was caught out and about pregnant. The mom of one was apparently in a serious relationship with Benjamin Millepied, the dance consultant, she met on the set of Black Swan.

The couple had their son in 2011 and got married in 2012. Since then, they have have added another baby, stayed pretty quiet, and to be honest, I don’t blame them. A quiet family life is one that many celebs wish they could obtain.

14 Nicole Richie

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden have already been together for way longer than anyone expected them to be. The couple is now happily married and has two kids. But, they did things a little backward...

They were together for several years and produced two kids before they decided they wanted to get married. Richie was on The David Letterman Show in 2010 when she addressed her marriage. She said they waited to get married because they didn’t really feel like it was something that they needed to do right away. They wanted to wait until the time was right. Two kids later was the right time for them!

13 Halle Berry

Actress Halle Berry has had a few horrible experiences with marriage. So much so that she vowed to never marry again. But kids have always been on the table for her marriages. So when she ended up pregnant with her daughter Nahla out of wedlock, no one thought anything of it. Things went south with Nahla’s father Gabriel Aubry, however, which led her to another relationship with Olivier Martinez. She also had a child with Martinez who was conceived before they were married. The two got divorced two years later and since then, Berry has been focused on her kids.

12 Goldie Hawn

Actress Goldie Hawn is an OG in this no marriage game. She and Kurt Russell have been together since 1983 and are yet to tie the knot. You can’t really blame her, her first marriage ended in divorce and she was an instant single mom to two kids. When she hooked up with Russell, marriage probably wasn’t even on their mind — even after having their son Wyatt in 1986. They are still going strong and will probably never get married because hey, it’s overrated anyway. Why mess with something that fits so perfectly anyway? The couple has been going strong without the official ceremony to back them.

11 Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt once had an enviable relationship. She had adopted several babies before hooking up with Pitt, but when the couple got together, not only did he adopt those kids as his own, they even had three more kids of their own. Six kids deep and this couple eventually got married only to now be going through a very bitter and very sad divorce. No one saw this coming but the press is having a field day covering all the raunchy details of their custody battle, their divorce, and everything in between. It’s sad to see it all go so left for this once power couple.

10 Katie Holmes

Dawson Leery's good girl friend had a baby out of wedlock! The scandal!

In 2006, Holmes wound up pregnant after a whirlwind romance with Tom Cruise. Their daughter Suri was born in April 2006 and then six months later, the couple tied the knot. They flew all the way to Italy to have an extravagant wedding. This was around the time Cruise started acting a little out of character, though. The couple eventually divorced for whatever reason and Holmes has gone on to date Jamie Foxx and a few other eligible bachelors. And Cruise, on the other hand, well he has also gone on to date a few beautiful women and have an illustrious career.

9 Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson met pop-rock bad boy Pete Wentz and fell madly in love. The couple made the media rounds showing off their affection and then the unthinkable happened... The couple got pregnant.

Knowing her religious background, Simpson and Wentz rushed to get married and a few months later, the couple had their son, Bronx Mowgli. They divorced in 2011, another religious no-no, and Simpson went on to marry Evan Ross. This time she got married before she gave birth to her daughter and is now Diana Ross’ daughter-in-law. The couple has a reality show starting this fall on E!.

8 Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba met Cash Warren and welcomed their first child in 2008. However many assumed she was rushing to get married because she also recently announced that she was pregnant. No one knew who Cash Warren was at the time, and many considered him to be a very lucky man to marry such a rich and beautiful woman. The couple has gone on to have two more children and are able to keep their private life pretty private. Alba’s career has dwindled a bit but she has made the transition to businesswomen with The Honest Company; a brand that prides itself on using sustainable and earth-friendly products.

7 Salma Hayek

In 2007, actress Salma Hayek gave birth to her daughter Valentina Paloma. The child’s father is billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault. The couple didn’t get married until 2009 and their daughter was certainly featured on their wedding day. Unfortunately, their union had a little bit of scandal when Linda Evangelista finally revealed that the father of her four-year-old son was none other than Pinault himself. Apparently while on a break from Hayek, he had a little fun and it produced a son... Hayek seems not bothered seeing as she is now the one with the ring on her finger and what looks to be a happy marriage.

6 Selma Blair

Actress Selma Blair welcomed her son Arthur into the world in 2011. She was dating fashion designer Jason Bleick at the time and the couple showed no signs or interest in getting married. Unfortunately, in 2012, the couple decided to call it quits. They still manage to co-parent their adorable son and Blair has kept other relationships (if any) under wraps. Fortunately, due to being with a fashion designer, fans were loving her maternity style. As of now, who knows if marriage or more kids are in the cards for Selma, but she seems to be smitten by little Arthur. 

5 Adele

Adele surprised us all when she announced her pregnancy and then surprised us some more when she revealed her mate!

In 2012, the couple welcomed a son named Angelo but made no mention of marriage or ever getting married. Then in 2017 at a concert in Brisbane, the singer announced that she was now married. She apparently tied the knot in 2016 in secret, obviously. The couple is going strong and is yet to have another child. Unfortunately, Adele did announce that she doubts she will be touring again seeing as she enjoys the mom life way too much. We sure will miss hearing that voice live, though.

4 Kourtney Kardashian

Kourtney Kardashian has yet to marry Scott Disick and we can almost safely say it will probably never happen. She did, however, manage to have three kids with him. Kardashian, unlike both of her sisters, has never been married and probably will only marry once and it will be forever. Unfortunately, she will always be tied to Disick and his nonsensical behavior. Three kids later and he still can’t smarten up. Mason, Penelope, and Raine are all lucky to have at least one stable and constant parent. And, of course, an entire family to keep them afloat. We hope that Disick can manage to hang on for his sake.

3 Hayden Panettiere

Pint-size star Hayden Panettiere brought a baby girl into the world in 2014 with her fiance Wladimir Klitschko. The couple hung in there for a while but never made it to the altar. They split in early 2018 and are currently co-parenting their daughter. We aren’t sure that not making it down the aisle was a big deal for the actress seeing as she has a buzzing career and eventually had to deal with postpartum depression. She even vowed to make a “fresh, clean” start after the break-up. She has learned how to deal with her depression and focusing on self-care.

2 Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis are now two kids deep and married. However, when they started out, the couple welcomed son Otis while they were engaged. They were in no rush to get married and even enjoyed the process of engagement.

Sudeikis even joked that the couple refuses to get married until weed is legal in every state. However, we don’t know how funny he was trying to be seeing as the couple is yet to walk down the aisle. That is unless they did it in secret already... They have been engaged since 2011 and had their first child in 2014. They sure are moving at their own pace.

1 Scarlett Johansson

Even Black Widow herself has trouble with marriage! Scarlett Johansson was engaged to journalist Romain Dauriac but fell pregnant and gave birth in 2014. In October of that same year, she married her journalist fiancee. The couple unfortunately separated in 2016 and by the beginning of 2017, they were officially divorced. She has moved on to Saturday Night Live writer and Weekend Update host Colin Jost. It’s so interesting how women run to date the funny guy after they already been divorced and locked down with a child. We will give Johansson a pass though because she’s kind of badass.

References: PopSugar, InStyle, Hollywood Life, Elle, DailyMail, US Magazine, DailyMail, Wikipedia, CNN, E! Online, Huffington Post, ET Canada