Jennifer Aniston: what did Friends star say about trying to get pregnant through IVF and split with Brad Pitt?

Jennifer Aniston has revealed she tried to get pregnant through IVF when she was younger. The Friends star told Allure magazine that she had “zero regrets” about her journey.

The 53-year-old said “the baby-making road” was “challenging” in the interview and commented on the tabloids’ speculation of her fertility. She also touched on her split with actor Brad Pitt, hitting back at the rumours that they divorced because she did not want children as “abosolute lies”.

Aniston has spoken out about about the press’ speculation around her fertility in the past. In 2016 she wrote an op-ed for the Huffington Post hitting out at tabloids questioning whether or not she was pregnant. So what has Jennifer Aniston said about her IVF journey now?

What has Jennifer Aniston said about her IVF journey?

Aniston was interviewed by Allure for their December cover story and opened up about her IVF journey. The star had not previously revealed she had undergone fertility treatment.

The former Friends star shared: “All the years and years and years of speculation... It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it.

“I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favour.’ You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.”

She also stated that the suggestion her marriage to Brad Pitt had ended because she didn’t want children was “absolute lies,” adding: “I don’t have anything to hide at this point.”

Aniston explained that at the time there was a “narrative that I was just selfish... 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.”

Aniston told Allure that “I have zero regrets,” adding: “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.”

She added: “I would say my late 30s, 40s, I’d gone through really hard s**t and if it wasn’t for going through that, I would’ve never become who I was meant to be.

“That’s why I have such gratitude for all those s****y things. Otherwise, I would’ve been stuck being this person that was so fearful, so nervous, so unsure of who they were. And now, I don’t f***ing care.”

When were Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt a couple?

Aniston has hit back at the rumours that she and Pitt divorced because she did not want children calling them “absolute lies”. The couple started dating in 1998 and stayed together for seven years, before eventually divorcing in 2002.

The couple have stayed in touch, with Pitt telling Entertainment Tonight in 2020: “I’ll run into Jen, she’s a good friend. Yeah.”

What did she write in her op-ed for The Huffington Post?

In 2016, Aniston wrote an op-ed for The Huffington Post calling out the media’s constant scrutiny of whether or not she was pregnant. Titled “For the Record”, she shared her experience with tabloids which “illuminated for me how much we define a woman’s value based on her marital and maternal status.”

Aniston said: “The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing,” adding: “We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies.”

She also commented on false rumours that she was pregnant, Aniston said:“I resent being made to feel “less than” because my body is changing and/or I had a burger for lunch and was photographed from a weird angle and therefore deemed one of two things: “pregnant” or “fat.” Not to mention the painful awkwardness that comes with being congratulated by friends, coworkers and strangers alike on one’s fictional pregnancy (often a dozen times in a single day).”

What is IVF?

The NHS website explains that In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a technique used to help people with fertility problems have a baby. During IVF, an egg is removed from the ovaries and is fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then returned to the womb to develop. The process can be carried out using the patient’s eggs and sperm or donor options can be offered.