Shannen Doherty Didn't Have Kids, but She Was a Beloved Aunt to Seven Nieces and Nephews

Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty has died at the age of 53 after battling cancer for several years. In light of the tragic news, many have wondered about her personal life, including whether Shannen had any children.

Shannen was married to her husband, Kurt Iswarienko, from 2011 to their divorce in 2023, but the two of them did not have any children together. Shannen also did not have children with her former husbands, Ashley Hamilton and Rick Salomon.

Shannen didn't have kids before her diagnosis and, while she had wanted to start a family eventually, she told Health in 2019 that those plans changed after she went into remission. She revealed that the medication she was on forced her body into menopause and, short of going on a new hormone treatment, she was unable to have children.

"It’s not possible [for me to get pregnant] because I can’t get out of menopause," Shannen explained. "That would require estrogen, and I’m choosing not to take hormone pills — I can’t risk those levels coming up."

Having higher estrogen levels can result in breast cancer and, for Shannen, trying to have kids at this point in her life was not worth the health risk.

In 2010, Shannen shared with Us Weekly that she had four nephews and three nieces — all kids of her brother, Sean B. Doherty. Their names are Virginia, Sean Jr, Tabitha, John, Francis, Dixon, and Zachariah.

Shannen was in remission in 2019, but still dealt with the possibility of her breast cancer returning within the five years since her 2017 remission. Then, in 2020, she announced her Stage 4 diagnosis. Still, she told Elle in an interview, she felt like she had a lot more time left and she refused to throw in the towel and admit defeat.

"There are things I need to say to my mom. I want my husband to know what he’s meant to me," she said, of writing letters or making video messages for her loved ones for after she’s gone. "But whenever it comes time for me to do it, it feels so final. It feels like you’re signing off, and I’m not signing off."

Shannen filed from divorce from her husband, photographer Kurt Iswarienko, in 2023, after 11 years of marriage. "Divorce is the last thing Shannen wanted," Doherty's publicist, Leslie Sloane, told People in a statement. "Unfortunately, she felt she was left with no other option."

Shannen had been married twice before, first to Ashley Hamilton from 1993 to 1994, and then to Rick Salomon from 2002 to 2003.

Our thoughts are with Shannen's family, friends, and fans at this time.