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Jennifer Aniston, best known as the star of Friends, is a TV and movie actor who has made headlines as many times for her personal life and romantic relationships as much as for her professional choices. Her high-profile marriage to Brad Pitt helped to make Aniston a superstar. And when they split after just a few years of marriage, many fans speculated that the two had fundamental disagreements about family and career issues. Over the years, Aniston has opened up a few times about the speculation regarding her fertility. In a 2016 op-ed, she wrote she’s truly “fed up” with the gossip surrounding her personal life. 

Fans have long speculated about Jennifer Aniston’s fertility

jennifer aniston
Jennifer Aniston attends the premiere of Netflix’s ‘Dumplin’ at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on December 6, 2018 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

After Aniston’s 2000 marriage to Pitt, her popularity went into overdrive. She and Pitt became known as Hollywood’s “golden couple,” a pair that was as talented as they were good-looking. Many waited eagerly for news of a pregnancy, but that news never came. When the two announced their split in 2005, a rumor swirled that Pitt left Aniston because he was eager to have children and she wasn’t. Notably, Pitt went on to welcome several children with Angelina Jolie.

Aniston married again in 2015 to actor Justin Theroux. The two divorced after just two years of marriage. Again, tabloid speculation went into overdrive about the couple’s lack of children, with many again assuming that Aniston didn’t want to become a mother.

What did Jennifer Aniston say about being ‘fed up’ with celebrity news culture?

In 2016, when Aniston was still married to Theroux, she wrote a gripping opinion piece for the Huff Post, slamming tabloids that consistently speculated about when and if she would announce a pregnancy. “For the record, I am not pregnant,” she wrote. “What I am is fed up. I’m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of ‘journalism,’ the ‘First Amendment’ and ‘celebrity news.'”

Aniston continued, “The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing. We use celebrity ‘news’ to perpetuate this dehumanizing view of females, focused solely on one’s physical appearance, which tabloids turn into a sporting event of speculation. Is she pregnant? Is she eating too much?” Aniston noted that she is “tired” of the narrative surrounding her fertility. “I’m not in pursuit of motherhood because I feel incomplete in some way, as our celebrity news culture would lead us all to believe,” she wrote.

Jennifer Aniston has often spoken out against the pregnancy speculation

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The 2016 op-ed was just the beginning. In the years since it was published, Aniston split from Theroux, became a prominent fixture on social media, and landed starring roles in several successful projects. Through it all, she’s consistently taken tabloids to task when they choose to engage in speculation about her ambitions toward motherhood. In a December 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Aniston shared she avoids the headlines.”Am I still having twins? Am I going to be the miracle mother at 52?” she quipped, harkening back to some old favorites.

Still, she refuses to give in to “victimhood” and slams the toxic narrative that says women should be defined by any one thing in life. As a hard-working actor and full-time pop culture icon, Aniston doesn’t let the tabloids control her life. And has no problem taking control of her destiny. It’s clear that she’s got no time or patience for baseless speculation,