Jennifer Aniston has revealed why she never adopted a child during her 20-year struggle with infertility. The Friends alum has been open about her battle to conceive and tried IVF for years before accepting that children were not in the cards for her. However, despite her desire to have a family, Jennifer recently admitted that she never considered adoption. During an appearance on a Wondery+ early access episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, The Morning Show star revealed why she never turned to adoption after co-host Monica Padman discussed her experience of freezing her eggs.
Monica confessed that she was unsure about whether she wants to have children, noting that "maybe it's okay that I don't." She then asked Jennifer if she had found "peace" after accepting that she won't become a parent. "It's so peaceful," Jennifer replied. "But I will say there's a point where it's like out of my control. There's literally nothing I can do about it."
Revealing why she personally didn't adopt, Jennifer continued: "When people say, 'But you can adopt,' I don't want to adopt. I want my own DNA in a little person. That's the only way, selfish or not, whatever that is, I've wanted it." Admitting she didn't want to elaborate further on the topic, Jennifer did acknowledge that in the past she had moments where she thought someone she met "would have made some good kids," but it's a sentiment that will "pass within three seconds."
The actress revealed that she now romanticizes not becoming a parent as she's "on the other side of it because it's out of your control." She added: "It just wasn't in the plan, whatever the plan was." She later noted that "it's very emotional, especially in the moment when they say, 'that's it,' because there is a weird moment when that happens."
Jennifer's adoption confession comes after she admitted how difficult it was to endure speculation as to why she hadn't welcomed children. The star refuted the rumor that had been circulating in the past, which claimed that she never had kids due to being a "selfish workaholic." Speaking in a candid interview to Harper's Bazaar UK, she said: "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.
"That's not anybody's business. But 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," she continued. "It does affect me – I'm just a human being. We're all human beings. That's why I thought, 'What the hell?'"
In 2022, Jennifer said that she had accepted that she would never become a parent while discussing her fertility journey. "It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road," she told Allure. "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. But I have zero regrets."