Selena Gomez Can't Carry Her Own Children Due To Medical Issues: "I Had To Grieve"
Selena Gomez opens up about having to "grieve" her inability to have children due to medical issues.
In 2022, Selena Gomez hinted at wanting to leave the entertainment industry in the future in hopes of becoming a mother. "I hope to be married and to be a mom," she said in an episode of the TaTaTu podcast. “Eventually, I’m going to be tired of all of this, so I’m probably just going to devote most of my life to philanthropy before I peace out," Gomez added.
In a more recent interview with Vanity Fair, the "Love On" singer revealed the heartbreaking reality behind her dreams of motherhood. Due to ongoing medical issues, she’s unable to carry her own children. Gomez has been living with lupus for over a decade and had to undergo a kidney transplant in 2017. Other symptoms of the autoimmune disease include muscle and joint pain, fever, hair loss, chest pain, fatigue, and more.
The Only Murders in the Building star had intentions to start a family before she was 35. “Before I met my boyfriend, I was single for five years, with the exception of going on a few dates,” she told the magazine. “And I was like, ‘Okay, if this is the vibe, then what is the most important thing to me? Family.’ ”
Gomez has said she would be open to adopting children in the past. She credits her mom, Mandy Teefey, who was adopted: “I probably wouldn’t be here. I don’t know what her life would’ve been like. She and I are very thankful for how life played out.”
Finally, the singer shares the truth about her situation. “I haven’t ever said this,” she said, “but I unfortunately can’t carry my own children. I have a lot of medical issues that would put my life and the baby’s in jeopardy. That was something I had to grieve for a while.”
"It’s not necessarily the way I envisioned it,” she admitted. “I thought it would happen the way it happens for everyone."
She's determined to have her own family, and she'll find ways to make it happen. Unfortunately, that may also mean surrogacy. "[But] I’m in a much better place with that. I find it a blessing that there are wonderful people willing to do surrogacy or adoption, which are both huge possibilities for me. It made me really thankful for the other outlets for people who are dying to be moms. I’m one of those people. I’m excited for what that journey will look like, but it’ll look a little different. At the end of the day, I don’t care. It’ll be mine. It’ll be my baby,” she said.
The article also touches on how Gomez's parents aren't pressuring her to marry her boyfriend, Benny Blanco. “We always make sure we’re protecting what we have, but there’s no rules,” she said. “I want him to always be himself. I always want to be myself.”
She means that in every way: “I’m not changing my name no matter what. I am Selena Gomez. That’s it.”
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