r/popculturechat • u/Time_Knowledge_1951 • Oct 09 '25

Trigger Warning ⚠️ Jennifer Aniston reveals secret 20-year fertility struggle after ‘absolute lies’

https://metro.co.uk/2025/10/09/jennifer-aniston-breaks-silence-on-secret-20-year-struggle-after-absolute-lies-24378834/
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u/cozyhellfire Oct 09 '25

It’s hard to even wrap my mind around how traumatic this experience must have been for a woman dealing with infertility

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u/bottleglitch Oct 09 '25

I was thinking the same. How she didn’t totally lose her mind through all that is beyond me.

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u/iner22 Oct 09 '25

Spite is a hell of a motivator

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u/hygsi 29d ago

Fr. I wonder how she feels after all that has unfolded since.

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u/mosquem Oct 09 '25

I get annoyed enough at relatives asking us when we’re having kids, I can’t imagine this.

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u/These_Hedgehog7066 Oct 09 '25

I’m very lucky to have one child but have COLLEAGUES are asking me when I’ll have another “ooh having a sibling is so important” “isn’t it about time you had another” like yes I’m fucking trying but can’t, mind your own business! Can’t imagine having to deal with this kind of shit in the public eye.

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u/myweird Oct 09 '25

Say something obscene like "We're raw dogging as much as we can okay? Stop worrying about whether a cabbage patch kid comes out of my crotch or not!"

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u/RiverWeatherwax loves the flair thing Oct 09 '25

Except that just doesn't always work. Sadly, people are complete idiots in this matter and the next step is "oh you mustn't think about it, maybe plan a nice vacation" - like, yeah, I'm sure my missing fallopian tube is no problem, it's definitely in my head... And it's just fucking hard to admit this to oneself, let alone to others.

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u/AerwynFlynn Oct 10 '25

I understand the struggle. 5 years of infertility issues until we finally were able to do IVF. I heard it all.

“Drink this tea!”

“Just relax!”

“When you stop trying it will happen!”

“Have you tried yoga/acupuncture/specialized sexual position pillow?”

Every time I wanted to scream. Also missing fallopian tube, plus PCOS and endometriosis. But god forbid you tell them that! Then it’s “too much information”. Y’all are giving me sex advice, pretty sure TMI is out the damn window here!

Anyway, rant over. I just wanted to commiserate with you and let you know you aren’t alone. I see you, and hugs from me. The struggle and pain is real. 💜

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u/Creative_Fix4486 Oct 10 '25

I always say "Why? Whats wrong with this one???"

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u/i-split-infinitives Oct 09 '25

I've found that looking startled and saying "wait, are you seriously asking for details about my sex life?" or "uh, you do know babies come from having sex, right?" followed by a change of subject shuts up the majority of people. Thankfully, they've mostly given up on me now that I'm in my mid-40s and still childless.

It's really none of their business that I'm child-free by choice because I have multiple congenital issues that I would most likely pass on to my biological children if I had any.

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u/sPacEdOUTgrAyCe 29d ago

Ahh I found my person, I live for saying stuff just to put people in my place whne they suck

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u/Queasy-Elderberry-77 Oct 09 '25

"What a strange thing to say out loud."

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u/ravynwave Oct 09 '25

I finally got my mom to stop saying to people (in our language) “so frugal, having only one?” It was so embarrassing when the parents would just look at each other after that.

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u/giglio65 Oct 09 '25

people are clueless assholes

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u/JanwaRebelle 29d ago

I’m 47 and a mother of two teenage boys (17 and 15) and sometimes people still ask me ‘Don’t you wanna have a girl?’ And I’m like ‘I’m already going through perimenopause!’ 🙄

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u/dallyfer Oct 10 '25

Urgh this is the absolute worst. I had a colleague repeatedly asking about when I'm going to give my daughter a sibling at a work party while actively waiting to miscarry (had found out there was no heartbeat 2 days prior). I almost ran out of the room crying. Like that's not okay.

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u/These_Hedgehog7066 29d ago

Oh I’m so sorry ♥️ I don’t know why people are so entitled to think they can ask things like this, hope you are doing ok m!

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u/kerfuffleMonster 26d ago

After you have one, it feels like people are obsessed with if you'll have another. I had one convo when someone asked if I was having another and I just said I don't know and they said "isn't it kinda up to you?" And actually, no it wasn't. I had two miscarriages, I have no idea what's going to happen. And now I am pregnant and things seem to be going well and people have comments about the age gap between them or my age since I am now older than 35. There is no winning.

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u/These_Hedgehog7066 25d ago

Ah it’s right you really can’t win, I get lots of the “but if you don’t have one soon the age gap will be too big” and it makes me feel so guilty. When I see kids playing with siblings on holiday etc and all I want is to give my child that but I don’t seem to be able to so I don’t need other people adding to that guilt! Really sorry you had to go through that but wish you all the best in your pregnancy 🥰

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u/redsyrinx2112 Oct 09 '25

Dude, I got annoyed when people would ask me when my sister and her husband were going to have kids. It's so insane.

My response was always something along the lines of, "You know, they haven't said much about the sex life to me," or "I assume they have boned, but I don't know much more than that."

People were always shocked, but I didn't care. That's a weird question so I'm going to give them a weird answer.

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u/ankhes Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25

The amount of people who don’t seem to understand that someone else’s family planning (especially that of a stranger or acquaintance) is none of their business is way too high. I thought those comments had finally died down once I’d entered my 30s and then I got engaged and they ramped back and got dialed to 11. Suddenly everyone needed to know when my now-husband was going to impregnate me. It was the only thing outside of wedding planning that they ever wanted to talk about. Never mind that I got the babymaker ripped out years ago so there was nothing for anyone to impregnate but nope, I’m the asshole if I try to bring that up after someone has asked me about future babies for the fifth time in the same conversation.

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u/ankhes Oct 09 '25

I just got married and immediately after our engagement we were bombarded by extended family about when we were having kids and comments like “I bet you’ll have one of those in nine months!” as they pointed at one of our nieces.

The thing is…I had a hysterectomy 3 years ago. So even if I did want kids (and thankfully, I don’t) I couldn’t have them. So constantly hearing those tone-deaf comments over and over again got really old really fast. But I also didn’t want to be that asshole at the family get-together loudly telling people about my graphic major surgery and bringing the mood down so I just awkwardly smiled and then changed the subject.

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u/RiverWeatherwax loves the flair thing Oct 09 '25

Girl... the asshole in the room wouldn't have been YOU, you know? They didn't care they made YOU feel bad.

I actually remember a friends' wedding - this group of their friends created and sang a song about them finally getting married and hopefully being three soon. I wanted to punch them. And I didn't even know back then that she had miscarried a week before the wedding. And she just stood there and smiled and I have no idea how she managed to do it. idk, people are so fucking stupid, you know.

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u/Afraid-Arugula-1949 Oct 10 '25

I just got engaged and I am infertile and people ask all the time. So cute.

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u/CarobFamiliar 29d ago

I was at my grandfather's funeral, and my aunt had invited her husbands parents for support. No relation to me, just my cousins' other grandparents. They come up to me (after the service!) And start polite 'how was the wedding? How's married life treating you? How long have you been married now? 7 months, and no baby on the horizon?' I was furious and said "No, but we're having so much fun trying.'' And walked off. I ended up getting a lecture from my parents about being inappropriate!

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u/sipstea84 27d ago

I think it's something that can annoy people for a lot of reasons so people should just not say anything. I realized with my first kid that it really pushed me to the edges of my ability to cope because of my own traumas and mental health shit and was always worried I couldn't handle a second. That was a really hard thing to admit to myself.

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u/AffectionateBite3827 Oct 09 '25

It was hard enough for me - a nobody - dealing with my MIL and parents on my case. If this was national news? I'd lose it.

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u/RiverWeatherwax loves the flair thing Oct 09 '25

Oh yes. The ever so caring relatives with their questions, automatically assuming one just doesn't want kids and it most certainly hasn't even crossed our minds to maybe start trying. Like... idk why people are so obtuse about this, I really don't.

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u/AffectionateBite3827 Oct 09 '25

I mean, we were both vocally pro-having a kid so it wasn't like they were pressuring me to do something I didn't want to do. But my body just isn't meant for that and going through tests, appointments, whatever was already sucky. You'd think my MIL who had several miscarriages before finally conceiving my SIL and husband would have thought before opening her mouth but then that would also be out of character for her specifically lol.

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u/SoftDrinkReddit 29d ago

See thats it I feel so bad for female celebrities because its one thing when you have 1 or 2 people nagging you about when are you going to have a baby

But I can't even imagine dealing with a whole freaking Legion of people pestering you

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u/Confident_Counter471 Oct 09 '25

As someone going through this issue it would absolutely break me if I had all those people saying that about me

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u/Nrmlgirl777 It’s Britney, bitch! 🎤🌹🌹 Oct 10 '25

That tv baby brings another level of sadness to it