Jennifer Aniston is Speaking Out (Again) About Invasive Pregnancy Speculation

Jennifer Aniston is, once again, speaking out against the incredibly offensive, invasive pregnancy speculation she faced for years. And it's just another reminder that we need to knock it all the way off with the pregnancy speculation. Because it's not just in incredibly poor taste — it can also be so painful for its victims.

If you're over a certain age, you remember this: Aniston's status as a highly successful woman in Hollywood who (gasp) did not have children (or, as some put it "refused to give her [then-]husband children") was a constant source of public conversation. Many decided that Aniston was prioritizing her career over motherhood, and they didn't hold back on spewing their disdain for that perceived choice. 

Years later, Aniston revealed that the public had it all wrong. She had been going through IVF. As someone who knows how incredibly painful infertility is, I can't even imagine what Aniston was going through...or how much the awful public chatter added to her burden.

“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,” Aniston told Harper's Bazaar during a recent interview. “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. It does affect me – I’m just a human being. We’re all human beings."

Aniston’s reason for opening up about this once again? To stand up for other women who are going through it — not just the desperation of infertility, but also the navigation of a world that views women’s bodies and reproductive choices as fair game for constant scrutiny, speculation, and commentary.

Ask Clara: What is pregnancy speculation?