Selena Gomez Reveals She Can’t Carry Her Own Children Due to Health Risks

Selena Gomez has revealed that she is unable to carry a child due to ongoing medical issues, meaning that pregnancy would pose a risk to both her and a fetus.

In an interview with Vanity FairThe Only Murders in the Building actress and former Disney star said she planned to start a family by the time she turned 35.

“I never said this, but unfortunately I can’t carry my own children,” she said. “I have a lot of medical issues that would put my life and the baby’s life at risk. That was something I had to grieve for a while.”

The 32-year-old didn’t specify her medical condition in the interview, but she has spoken publicly about being diagnosed with lupus in 2015, a disease in which the immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. A year later, she was also diagnosed with anxiety and depression, which may be related to both lupus and certain medications used to treat the condition.

Gomez underwent a kidney transplant in 2017 for lupus. In 2020, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after experiencing a psychotic episode in which she heard voices and felt suicidal.

In 2022, she told Rolling Stone that she must continue taking two specific medications she takes for her bipolar disorder could mean that she can no longer have a safe pregnancy. “That’s a very big, huge, current thing in my life,” she said at the time.

Gomez has also said she is open to adoption, in part because her own mother was adopted.

“I probably wouldn’t be here,” Gomez told Vanity Fair, if her mother hadn’t been adopted. “I don’t know what her life would have been like. She and I are very grateful for how life has turned out.”

Gomez told Vanity Fair that she may still become a parent via a route like adoption or surrogacy. “It’s not necessarily the way I imagined it. I thought it would happen the way it happens for everyone else,” she said. “(But) I’m in a much better place. I think it’s a blessing that there are amazing people out there who are willing to do surrogacy or adoption, which are both huge opportunities for me.”

“It made me really grateful that there are other outlets for people who are desperate to become mothers. I’m one of those people. I’m excited about what that journey will look like, but it’s going to look a little different. At the end of the day, I don’t care. It’s going to be mine. It’s going to be my baby.”

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, you can contact Samaritans on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at friends.org