Jennifer Aniston reflects on private two-decade fight to have children: 'They didn't know my story'

Jennifer Aniston has opened up about her private two-decade journey of trying to have children through IVF.

The Morning Show actress was subjected to years of media scrutiny over whether she would have children, with rumours her divorce from Brad Pitt came about because she wanted to prioritise her career over having kids.

Behind closed doors, however, Aniston was going through a private IVF battle.

"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," the Friends star told Harper's Bazaar.

"That's not anybody's business."

Aniston said she decided to address the rumours about her private life in an op-ed for the Huffington Post in 2016 because she couldn't take hearing lies about herself anymore.

"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. It does affect me," she told Harper's.

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"I'm just a human being. We're all human beings. That's why I thought, 'What the hell?'"

Aniston also did it to speak to women who were going through the same thing.

"Because I knew a lot of women at the time who were trying to have kids, who were dealing with IVF," she told the magazine.

"So it did feel like it was not only for myself, but for any women who were struggling with the same issue."

Aniston first spoke about her IVF journey in Allure, saying her 30s and 40s were a "challenging road" trying to fall pregnant.

"I was trying to get pregnant. It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road," she said in the 2022 interview.

"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."

The actress was married to Pitt from 2000 to 2005 before they got divorced.

She was married a second time, to fellow actor Justin Theroux in 2015 before the pair split in 2018.

Aniston is now dating wellness coach Jim Curtis.

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