Jennifer Aniston reveals why she chose not to adopt
The 'Friends' star admits she wants her "own DNA in a little person".
Jennifer Aniston has revealed why she has never considered adoption.
The 56-year-old actress opened up about her fertility challenges during an appearance on Dax Shepard's 'Armchair Expert'podcast.
"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," she told Shepard and his co-host Monica Padman.
Aniston, who was previously linked to Brad Pitt, John Mayer and Justin Theroux, said she is at peace with the situation.
"It's so peaceful. 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."
In 2022, Aniston talked candidly about her experience with in vitro fertilisation (IVF), and how she felt about people speculating about why she doesn't have children.
She admitted that she tried just about everything to get pregnant.
"I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it," she told Allure.
The 'Friends' actress, who is mom to a fur baby named Lord Chesterfield, added that she had frozen her eggs.
"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," she told Allure.
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In a separate interview in Harper's Bazaar UK's November 2025 issue, Aniston clapped back at some people's claims that she was focused more on her career than on starting a family.
"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."
The actress admits the comments affected her, but she decided to speak out about her experience to help other women.
"I’m just a human being. We’re all human beings. That’s why I thought, ‘What the hell?’, because I knew a lot of women at the time who were trying to have kids, who were dealing with IVF."
"So it did feel like it was not only for myself, but for any women who were struggling with the same issue”.
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Listen to Aniston's 'Armchair Expert' podcast interview below.
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Image credit: Instagram/@jenniferaniston