Selena Gomez says she ‘can’t carry my own children,’ but remains optimistic about starting a family

Selena Gomez says that she plans to become a mother by age 35 and that she likely will turn to surrogacy or adoption.

“I haven’t ever said this, but I unfortunately can’t carry my own children,” the 32-year-old actor, singer and beauty brand executive revealed in a Vanity Fair October cover story. “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.”

In July, Gomez received her first Emmy nomination in an acting category for her portrayal of Mabel Mora in the Hulu comedy “Only Murders in the Building.” The Disney-raised multihyphenate also appears in “Emilia Perez,” a Spanish-language musical, with Zoe Saldana — slated for release in November in select theaters and on Netflix.

“It’s not necessarily the way I envisioned it,” she said, referring to starting a family. “I thought it would happen the way it happens for everyone. [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.”

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Before her current relationship with collaborator and prolific producer Benny Blanco, Gomez was single for five years. This period, she says, helped her prioritize family and prompted her to evaluate how she could start one of her own.

The “Wizards of Waverly Place” actor spoke on the topic of pregnancy with Rolling Stone back in 2022, saying then that her bipolar medications made carrying a child unlikely and adding: “That’s a very big, big, present thing in my life. ... However I’m meant to have them [children], I will.”

In her 20s, the performer had been to four treatment centers for her mental health. By 2019, she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder after experiencing an episode of psychosis.

“I think when I started hitting my early twenties is when it started to get really dark, when I started to feel like I was not in control of what I was feeling, whether that was really great or really bad,” Gomez told Rolling Stone. “There’s something over me that is maybe my bipolar that kind of just keeps me humble — in a dark way.”

In addition to her struggles with bipolar disorder, Gomez has battled lupus. In 2017, Gomez received a kidney transplant as a result of the chronic autoimmune disease. Despite a lifetime of health concerns, the recent 2024 Cannes Film Festival lead actress winner says she remains thankful and enthusiastic about the future.

“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,” Gomez said.