He had about thirty children whose mothers were from outside the palace; although he became a priest when he was fifty-six, his bad habit remained the same and he had a child, Emperor Reigen, when he was fifty-eight.
退位後にも中宮以外の女性に30余人の子を産ませ56歳で出家した後も治らず、58歳で後の霊元天皇を産ませた。