Jennifer Aniston Opens Up About Her Failed IVF Attempts
Jennifer Aniston recently left her followers speechless. The famous actress confessed that she underwent several in vitro fertilization processes to try to become pregnant. However, sadly, she didn’t achieve her goal of bringing a life into this world. Despite this, Jennifer has affirmed that this situation has made her stronger.
The news comes after decades of speculation that the film and TV star didn’t want to become a mother. Read on to learn more about this story and the great lesson it teaches us as a society and as women.
Jennifer Aniston opened up about her desire to be a mother
Jennifer Aniston has had great success throughout her career as an actress. Despite her proven talent, she was always being criticized for “never wanting to become a mother”, and there were plenty of theories doing the rounds Recently, Jennifer confessed in an interview that she did try to get pregnant a number of times some time ago. She even tried in vitro fertilization (IVF), but was unsuccessful.
Although this statement was a bombshell, the star of comedies such as Friends went further and left us with some words to reflect on. During her speech, she talked about the emotionally painful toll these failed attempts took on her.
“It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it. I would have given anything for someone to have said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.‘ You just don’t think about it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed,” she told Allure.
“It was lies”… Jennifer faces up to the speculation
The Marley and Me star took the opportunity to talk about the unsavory perception the public created around her motherhood and marriages. “There was a narrative that I was just a selfish woman,” she said.
She added that people thought “I only cared about my career, and God forbid a woman should be successful and not have a child. The reason my husband left me, why we broke up and ended our marriage, was because I wouldn’t give him a baby. Those were absolute lies. I have nothing to hide at this point.”
The actress made peace with herself
Finally, Aniston commented that she managed to make peace with her situation because it made her a stronger woman. “I don’t regret anything (…) In fact, I feel a little bit of relief now because there’s no more, ‘Can I? Maybe, maybe, maybe…’ I don’t have to think about that anymore.”
She concludes that she now concentrates on empowering herself, rather than criticizing her past decisions: “I feel better about who I am today, better than I ever did when I was in my 20s or 30s, or mid-40s. We need to stop saying bad things to ourselves.”
What is IVF and how does it affect women?
As explained by the Mayo Clinic, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is “a series of complex procedures used to improve fertility or to prevent genetic problems, and to aid in the conception of a child”. Its success depends on factors such as each woman’s age, medical history, and fertility history, among others.
This complex process has a success rate that ranges from 20% to 25% per cycle. In the case of women over 35 years of age, the probabilities decrease a little more.
In addition to the frustration for women who aren’t able to conceive and the hormonal effects caused in their bodies, studies show that “as IVF techniques have become more popular, the risks have increased. However, at present, techniques, and procedures are being studied and applied to reduce them“.
Some of these effects are hyperstimulation syndrome, multiple pregnancies and congenital defects, among others.
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- Mayo Clinic. Fertilización In vitro. [Internet]. [citado 2022 Nov 13]. Disponible en https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/in-vitro-fertilization/about/pac-20384716
- Kushner-Dávalos Luis. La fertilización in vitro: beneficios, riesgos y futuro. Rev Cient Cienc Méd [Internet]. 2010 Dic [citado 2022 Nov 13] ; 13( 2 ): 77-80.