Jennifer Aniston Opens Up About IVF and Fertility Struggles

Jennifer Aniston tried to get pregnant for many years. "It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road," the actor tells Allure in our December cover story. Aniston opened up about the challenges she faced while trying to have a baby, including intense media scrutiny and unsuccessful rounds of in vitro fertilization IVF. The rest of us don't have to face the kind of painful speculation Aniston was up against, but it's a reality too many can relate to: The success rates for IVF are 25.1 percent for maternal ages 38-40, and 12.7 percent for ages 41-42, according to data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology.

"My late 30s, 40s, I'd gone through really hard shit, and if it wasn't for going through that, I would've never become who I was meant to be," says Aniston, then explaining: "I was trying to get pregnant."

Remember the many (many) years that Aniston was the subject of a tabloid "bump watch"? "I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it," she says. "I would've given anything if someone had said to me, 'Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.' You just don't think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed."

"I have zero regrets," Aniston, now 53, tells writer Danielle Pergament. "I actually feel a little relief now because there is no more, 'Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.' I don’t have to think about that anymore."

But there was certainly pain in the past. The hurt of the "Does Jen Have a Baby Bump?" headlines was compounded by "the narrative that I was just selfish," says Aniston. "I just cared about my career. And God forbid a woman is successful and doesn't have a child. And the reason my husband left me, why we broke up and ended our marriage, was because I wouldn't give him a kid. It was absolute lies. I don't have anything to hide at this point." Aniston's five-year marriage to actor Brad Pitt ended in 2005; she was with Justin Theroux from 2011 to 2018 (they married in 2015).

As Pergament writes in our cover story, "We all felt entitled to the cellular happenings inside her uterus. We consumed those headlines, then dropped them in the trash and got back to our lives. But she couldn't."

Aniston's frustration led her to write an op-ed for The Huffington Post in 2016, criticizing the media for its fixation on her reproductive status and its treatment of women, in general: "I was like, 'I've just got to write this because it's so maddening and I'm not superhuman to the point where I can't let it penetrate and hurt.' "

Related Posts

Jennifer Aniston, 56, looks half her age as she flashes SIX PACK abs in new snaps

Jennifer Aniston has left fans stunned over her athletic level abs while appearing in head-turning photos for her new Smartwater campaign.  The Friends alum, 56 – who…

Jennifer Aniston’s $20 million yearly paycheck to add to her staggering net worth

Jennifer Aniston stole the show as Rachel Greene on hit sitcom Friends back in the 90s, and thus went on to cement her status as one of…

Jennifer Aniston Shares 3 Life Lessons from Her Mom — Plus, the 1 Thing She Was ‘Never Allowed’ to Have as a Kid (Exclusive)

Jennifer Aniston's approach to healthy living began at a young age. "I was never allowed to have a sugary piece of anything, and I was also served…

THE REAL STORY — Jennifer Aniston Redefines Happiness, Power, and Womanhood on Her Own Terms

To arrive at Jennifer Aniston’s Los Angeles home is to ascend—physically and metaphorically. Tucked behind towering gates and symmetrical landscaping lies a serene sanctuary: all white façades,…

HEARTBREAKING — Jennifer Aniston’s $300M Life Can’t Buy the One Thing She Wants Most

Jennifer Aniston — the beloved actress who won hearts around the world as Rachel Green on Friends — seems to have it all. With a staggering net…

JAW-DROPPING — Jennifer Aniston Nearly Turned Away at Emmys in Shocking Security Mix-Up

In a moment that left fans stunned and cameras flashing, Jennifer Aniston—the beloved Friends icon and Emmy-nominated actress—was nearly denied entry to one of television's most prestigious…