Jennifer Aniston explains why she never wanted to adopt children after people slammed her for being 'selfish'

Friends star Jennifer Aniston has opened up on why she hasn't adopted children following her infertility issues.

The 56-year-old recently spoke about her struggles to have a child, despite 'throwing everything at it' for a good number of years.

She has finally addressed rumours of whether she is planning to have children or not, claiming that it even caused her marriage with Brad Pitt to come to an end.

Best known for her role as Rachel Green on NBC sitcom Friends, the actress previously spoke about the efforts she went to in order to try and conceive a baby.

Speaking to Allure in 2022, Aniston claimed she'd spent two decades doing everything in her power to get pregnant, explaining: "It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it."

But unlike her ex-husband and his then-wife Angelina Jolie, she was not looking to adopt children at all, which some have suggested is 'selfish'.

Aniston has come to terms with her infertility and doesn't plan to have any children (XNY/Star Max/GC Images)

Aniston has accepted her fate though, explaining on a Wondery+ early access episode of the Armchair Expert podcast: “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.

"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.”

Media attention on the actress' personal life no longer bothers her, despite the numerous headlines and claims about her over the years.

Aniston further elaborated in an interview with Harpers Bazaar: "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."

She added that it simply isn't 'anybody's business', saying that you 'can't not hear it' at certain points, as she remembers claims that she 'won’t have a family, because I’m selfish, a workaholic.'

Aniston said her infertility played a role in her split with Brad Pitt (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Turner)

"It does affect me – I’m just a human being. We’re all human beings," she said about the constant rumours.

Following all the scrutiny, the actress said she then wrote a 2016 op-ed for The Huffington Post on IVF, claiming: "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."

As she's got older, Aniston claimed she doesn't care to 'correct a narrative' anymore, stating: "I think, do I really? My family knows my truth, my friends know my truth."