The 1997 murder of pop star Selena Quintanilla fueled endless gossip about her personal life.
One of the biggest questions that has persisted for the 30 years following Quintanilla’s death at age 23 was whether she was pregnant at the time of her murder. (Quintanilla was fatally shot by her former friend and business associate Yolanda Saldívar in Corpus Christie, Texas, on March 31, 1995. She was convicted of first-degree murder in October of that year.)
A hoax about Quintanilla’s supposed pregnancy sprang up during the early days of the internet, with Saldívar seemingly lending credence to the speculation in subsequent jailhouse interviews.
Prior to the release of Netflix’s Selena y Los Dinos documentary in November 2025, Quintanilla’s widower, Chris Pérez, tried to clear up the pregnancy rumors. He has also offered insight into what his life was like with Quintanilla during their three years of marriage.
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Keep scrolling for more information about Quintanilla’s views on motherhood and the truth about whether she was pregnant at the time of her murder.
Does Selena Quintanilla Have Kids?
No. Selena Quintanilla and her husband Chris Pérez had no children together.
The 2025 documentary Selena y Los Dinos featured archival footage of Quintanilla speaking to a reporter about the prospect of becoming a mom, according to People.
“I would love to have children in the future. I think it is a part of my womanhood that, as a woman, I feel that I am missing it,” Quintanilla said. “More so in the future. I feel that I have to extract all of the goals that I have in my mind and achieve them.”
She added, “In the future, when I have time to take care of my children, well, of course I’m going to have kids. Like six. Another group!”
Another segment in the documentary featured Selena’s sister, Suzette Quintanilla, reflecting on her discussions with the “Dreaming of You” singer about their future.
“After she was married with Chris, she would just always tell me about her dreams. She would take off her makeup and always put her hair in a bun,” Suzette recalled. “We would talk about getting married, about me getting married one day, about her having children, her kids and my kids were gonna play together and we were going to make sure that we were going to raise them together. Normal stuff.”
Following Selena’s death, Chris was married to his second wife, Vanessa Villanueva, from 2001 to 2008. Chris and Vanessa share two children: Cassie and Noah.
Was Selena Quintanilla Pregnant When She Died?
No. Selena’s widower Chris has routinely denied persistent rumors that she was pregnant at the time of her death.
While promoting his memoir, To Selena, with Love, in 2012, Chris denied the pregnancy theories, along with speculation that he and Selena were planning to divorce.
“I could fill a whole book just about [those rumors],” Perez told Chron. “There were some things that were just ridiculous.”
What Has Selena Quintanilla’s Widower Chris Perez Said About Their Marriage?
Chris has occasionally spoken about his marriage to Selena over the years, including writing warmly about her in his memoir, To Selena, with Love.
The couple’s romance grew out of their musical collaborations, as Chris was a member of his future wife’s tejano band, Selena y Los Dinos. In Netflix’s 2025 documentary, Chris reflected on what life was like for one of the world’s biggest stars.
“Selena was always going, always on,” he said. “I think ‘road life’ started to become pretty busy, pretty hectic.”
Chris remembered that one of Selena’s favorite hobbies during her downtime was designing clothing.
“Doing the designing was something that made her happy,” Chris said. “She would set some time aside — quiet time. She would have her sketch pads and she would start going to town … Some of our outfits that we wore onstage were drawn by her.”
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Elsewhere, Chris admitted that he’d struggled with “guilt” about the way Selena died. He said he had been aware that Yolanda Saldívar once showed off a pistol to his wife but was assured by Selena that Yolanda planned to return the gun. (Yolanda originally bought a Taurus Model 85 .38-caliber revolver from a San Antonio gun range. She later returned the weapon before re-purchasing the gun days before using it in the fatal shooting.)
“There was a lot of that. A lot of [guilt] going through my mind,” he told Chron. “But when something happens like that so quickly, and the way it happened, I think it’s only natural for most people to feel the same way. The reason something like that happens is because nobody expected it to happen. We didn’t think this person was capable of doing what she did.”
