Selena Gomez Confirms She ‘Can’t Carry’ Her Own Children

Selena Gomez is optimistic about becoming a mom — even if it doesn’t happen in the way she originally expected.

“I haven’t ever said this, but I unfortunately can’t carry my own children,” Gomez, 32, revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair published on Monday, September 9. “I have a lot of medical issues that would put my life and the baby’s life in jeopardy. That was something I had to grieve for a while.”

Despite thinking she would become a parent “the way it happens for everyone,” Gomez said she’s “in a much better place” now. “I find it a blessing that there are wonderful people willing to do surrogacy or adoption, which are both huge possibilities for me,” she shared. “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.”

Gomez has been open about her health journey with fans over the years, having been diagnosed with lupus in 2013 (she underwent a kidney transplant in 2017) and bipolar disorder in 2018.

The Only Murders in the Building star previously spoke about how her bipolar medication might affect how she starts a family. “That’s a very big, big, present thing in my life,” she told Rolling Stone in November 2022. “However I’m meant to have them, I will. … I think there’s something over me that is maybe my bipolar that kind of just keeps me humble — in a dark way.”

Becoming a mom is something Gomez has put much thought into over the years, even declaring her plan to adopt a baby if she was still single by the time she turned 35. “Before I met my boyfriend [Benny Blanco], I was single for five years, with the exception of going on a few dates,” she explained to Vanity Fair. “And I was like, ‘OK, if this is the vibe, then what is the most important thing to me? Family.’”

Gomez noted that she’s particularly open to adopting a child, as her mother, Mandy Teefey, is adopted. “I probably wouldn’t be here. I don’t know what her life would’ve been like,” she shared. “She and I are very thankful for how life played out.”

Gomez and Blanco, 36, began dating last year after collaborating on music with each other in the past. A source exclusively told Us Weekly back in May that the actress “definitely sees this relationship going the distance,” adding that she and the music producer have “talked about marriage and having children and are very much on the same page.”

Gomez, however, told Vanity Fair that she and Blanco aren’t rushing to take the next steps in their relationship. “We always make sure we’re protecting what we have, but there’s not rules,” she stated. “I want him to always be himself. I always want to be myself.”