Jennifer Aniston opens up about her attempts to have children

Jennifer Aniston has spoken about trying to get pregnant through IVF but says that "the ship has sailed".

The actress, 53, best known for playing Rachel Green in Friends, said she privately went through a difficult time in her late 30s and 40s, while under media scrutiny.

"I was trying to get pregnant," she said.

She told the magazine Allure she wished someone had told her to freeze her eggs.

"It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road," she added.

"All the years and years of speculation... It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it."

But she told the magazine that she had "zero regrets."

She added: "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," she said. "The ship has sailed."

'Narrative that I was just selfish'

In 2018, Aniston and actor Justin Theroux announced they had separated after two years of marriage. Before that, she was married to actor Brad Pitt.

She suggested the media can be cruel towards women in the industry who do not have children, and created a "narrative that I was just selfish" and "just cared about my career".

"And God forbid a woman is successful and doesn't have a child," she said.

Addressing her marriage to Brad Pitt, she said: "And the reason my husband left me, why we broke up and ended our marriage, was because I wouldn't give him a kid. It was absolute lies. I don't have anything to hide at this point."

The star, who is appearing in the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, went on to say she felt "a little relief now" about being older and found it "liberating", because "there is no more, 'Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe'. I don't have to think about that any more", she explained.

"I've spent so many years protecting my story about IVF. I'm so protective of these parts because I feel like there's so little that I get to keep to myself," she continued.

IVF is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, then embryos are inserted into the mother's womb.

"The [world] creates narratives that aren't true, so I might as well tell the truth. I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation. I don't have anything to hide," Aniston added.