Celebrities who have spoken openly about abortions

Britney Spears published on October 24, The Woman in Me as the introduction to his autobiographical book, a People magazine wrote the fearfully guarded, painful secret of the singer’s life: more than two decades ago, the pop star was expecting a child from her partner at the time, Justin Timberlake, who, however, believed that they were still too young to have children. Therefore, the singer finally had an abortion.

“The pregnancy was a surprise, but not a tragedy for me. I loved Justin so much. I have often thought about starting a family together one day. It just happened much sooner than I expected. (…) If I alone can decide, I will definitely not choose abortion. But Justin was so sure he didn’t want kids.” – Britney writes about this in her book, who feels that this is one of the most traumatic experiences in her life to date. Soon after her breakup with Timberlake in 2002, the singer became a mother: Sean Preston, born to Kevin Federline, is already 18, while Jayden James is 17.

However, she is not the only world star who has openly spoken or written about having an abortion. You can read their stories in the gallery below.

Uma Thurman worked in Europe as a teenager, during which time she got pregnant by a much older man. She made the most difficult decision of her life with the abortion. “Not keeping that early pregnancy allowed me to grow up and later become the mother I wanted and needed to be.” (Photo: CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP)

Ashley Judd spoke at the 2019 Women in the World Summit about having suffered three rapes in her life, one of which led to an unwanted pregnancy. “I am very grateful to have had access to a safe and legal abortion,” the actress said. (Photo: Astrid Stawiarz / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

In her twenties, Rita Moreno became pregnant by her partner at the time, Marlon Brando, but they did not want to keep the baby. Abortion was illegal at the time, but the actor found a doctor who performed the abortion for $500. The actress started bleeding not long after, and it turned out that the doctor made a mistake in the intervention, which could have even killed her. In the end, she was taken to the hospital in time, where she was treated professionally, officially due to a miscarriage. (Photo: JC Olivera / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Chrissy Teigen was expecting her third child in 2020, but she lost the baby. At the time, the news was about a miscarriage, but later the actress wrote on Instagram that it was actually a life-saving abortion. “Let’s call it what it was: an abortion. An abortion that saved my life, instead of a baby that didn’t stand a chance. But to be honest, I didn’t realize that myself until a few months ago.” (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

In her memoir, Thicker Than Water, Kerry Washington wrote about having an abortion when she was 20 years old. She became pregnant from a casual relationship in 2001, shortly after the success of her film A szím ertéd rapes. In order to protect her private life, she registered at a clinic under a pseudonym, where the abortion was performed. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

“I found out I was pregnant when I was 14. My period didn’t come. I didn’t tell anyone. I panicked. I sat in hot baths. I drank strange concoctions that the girls told me about – things like whiskey with a little bleach, alcohol and baking soda, which probably saved my stomach, and some cream. You got it all mixed up. I got really sick. At that moment, I was more afraid of having to explain to anyone what was wrong than going out to the park with a coat hanger, which I did,” Whoopi Goldberg said about the horrors she experienced. (Photo: Dia Dipasupil / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA /Getty Images via AFP)

Paris Hilton got pregnant in her early twenties, but decided to have an abortion because at the time she felt that even she herself was almost a child who was not ready to have children. (Photo: Rodrigo Varela / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)