Jennifer Aniston, 53, 'has nothing to hide' as she shares 'challenging' IVF journey
Despite being one of the most recognisable women in the world, Jennifer Aniston has kept fairly quiet about her personal life over the years, no matter what the rumour mill churns out.
But now, the Friends star says she has “nothing to hide” as she opens up about a deeply personal and “challenging” chapter in her life.
After years of speculation in the tabloids as to why the actor doesn’t have children of her own, Aniston revealed that despite what people may think, she did try for a baby some years ago but was unsuccessful.
Aniston, 53, shared that she spent “many years” protecting her fertility journey, including the process of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) several years ago, in a new interview for the December issue of Allure.
“I was trying to get pregnant,” she told the magazine. “It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road.”
“I had no idea,” Danielle Pergament, her interviewer, replied.
Read more: More than a quarter of under 35s considering freezing sperm or eggs to future-proof their fertility
“Yeah, nobody does,” responded Aniston. “All the years and years and years of speculation... It was really hard.”
“I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it,” she continued. “I was throwing everything at it.”
“I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, 'Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.' [sic] You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.”
Read more: Single mum who had IVF baby at 50 says it was right time to become a parent
Read more: Demi Moore, Liz Hurley and the 'mid-lifers' embracing womanhood with bikini photos
The child-bearing ship may have sailed for Aniston, but had she not been through “really hard sh**” in her late 30s and 40s she tells Pergament, she “would’ve never become who I was meant to be.”
“That’s why I have such gratitude for all those sh***y things,” she adds. “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.”
Read more: Jennifer Aniston mocks rumours: 'Am I pregnant with twins?'
Aniston says she’s spent so many years “protecting” her IVF story, from the global press, who, at times seemed more interested in the inner workings of her womb than her work.
“I’m so protective of these parts because I feel like there’s so little that I get to keep to myself,” she explains.
“The world creates narratives that aren’t true, so I might as well tell the truth. I feel like I’m coming out of hibernation. I don’t have anything to hide.”
The Morning Show star and LolaVie hair guru posed for the magazine’s December issue in several vintage designer items, sourced from El Cycèr Vintage by stylist Shibon Kennedy.
The issue’s cover image will surely be one to remember, as Aniston poses in a teeny-tiny Chanel bikini top from the Fashion House’s spring 1996 collection.
“I have zero regrets,” adds Aniston of her journey up until now. And where does she stand when it comes to a relationship?
“Never say never,” she says.
Watch: Jennifer Aniston worried about Matthew Perry amid his addiction on Friends