Jennifer Aniston has long been a figure of fascination when it comes to her personal life, especially her journey with motherhood. The beloved Friends alum recently spoke candidly about why she chose not to adopt despite facing fertility challenges, revealing her deep desire to have a child who shares her own DNA.
During a recent episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, co-host Monica Padman shared her own experience with freezing her eggs and asked Aniston if she had found peace with not becoming a mother. At 56, Aniston responded with heartfelt honesty.
“It’s so peaceful,” she said, before adding a sobering truth. “But I will say there’s a point where it’s, like, out of my control. There’s literally nothing I can do about it.”
Addressing the common suggestion that adoption could be an alternative, Aniston made it clear that wasn’t the path she wanted to take.
“When people say, ‘But you can adopt,’ I don’t want to adopt,” she explained. “I want my own DNA in a little person. That’s the only way, selfish or not, whatever that is, I’ve wanted it. It just wasn’t in the plan, whatever the plan was.”
The Morning Show star also spoke about the emotional weight of hearing definitive medical news that limits one’s options for having children.
“It’s very emotional, especially in the moment when they say ‘that’s it,’ because there is a weird moment when that happens.”
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For years, Aniston has faced public scrutiny and judgment for not having children, often met with criticism fueled by rumors about her personal choices. Last week, she addressed these false narratives in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, calling out the misconception that her busy career was the reason behind her not starting a family.
“They didn’t know my story, or what I’d been going through over the past 20 years to try to pursue a family, because I don’t go out there and tell them my medical woes,” she said. She stressed that her medical history is “not anybody’s business.”
Aniston also expressed frustration about the persistent gossip portraying her as selfish or a workaholic.
“But there comes a point when you can’t not hear it – the narrative about how I won’t have a baby, won’t have a family, because I’m selfish, a workaholic,” she shared.
Despite the hurt such rumors cause, Aniston acknowledged her vulnerability.
“I’m just a human being,” she said, highlighting the emotional toll the speculation takes on her.
In 2022, Aniston opened up publicly about undergoing IVF treatments with her then-partner Brad Pitt during their relationship. She revealed this in an interview, shedding light on the private struggles she had endured.
That same year, she detailed her fertility journey in a cover story for Allure, where she reflected on the growth that came from her challenges.
“If it wasn’t for going through that, I would’ve never become who I was meant to be,” she said. She described having gratitude for even the difficult experiences.
She recounted the determination she had when trying to conceive.
“I was throwing everything at it,” she recalled. “I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.’ You just don’t think it.”
Looking back, Aniston accepts that chapter of her life has closed.
“So here I am today. The ship has sailed. There is no more, ‘Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.’ I don’t have to think about that anymore.”
Aniston’s journey with love and family has also been a public one. After marrying Brad Pitt in 2000, they divorced in 2005. Ten years later, she married actor Justin Theroux; the couple separated in 2017.
More recently, Aniston has been linked to hypnotist Jim Curtis, adding a new chapter to her personal life.