Selena Gomez says she can't carry her own children due to medical issues. There's power in sharing her story.

Selena Gomez “can’t carry [her] own children.” The actress, 32, opened up to Vanity Fair about family planning while discussing her relationship with boyfriend Benny Blanco.

“I have a lot of medical issues that would put my life and the baby’s in jeopardy,” she said, referring to her 2013 diagnosis of lupus — a chronic autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack healthy tissues and organs. She underwent chemotherapy as a form of treatment and had a kidney transplant as a result of lupus nephritis. Patients with lupus can have healthy pregnancies. However, the disease makes pregnancy more difficult.

Gomez was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder and mentioned in a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone that two medications she takes for it might prevent her from having a safe pregnancy.

There are many family-building options that Gomez has considered. “I find it a blessing that there are wonderful people willing to do surrogacy or adoption, which are both huge possibilities for me. It made me really thankful for the other outlets for people who are dying to be moms. I’m one of those people,” she said. “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.”

She continued, “It’s not necessarily the way I envisioned [becoming a parent]. … I thought it would happen the way it happens for everyone.”

However, she’s far from alone. Here’s what experts told Yahoo Life about infertility and the importance of Gomez speaking out about it.

How common is infertility?

Roughly 1 in 6 adults globally are affected by infertility, according to the World Health Organization. The term refers both to individuals who are unable to get pregnant and those who aren’t able to carry a pregnancy to term.

“It’s more common than people realize because many people do not share something so personal in a public way,” Barb Collura, president and CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, tells Yahoo Life.

People have also been made to think that getting pregnant is easy, until they’re in the process themselves, says Dr. James Grifo, program director at NYU Langone Fertility Center and chief executive physician at Inception Fertility.

“We spend our lives thinking it's so easy to get pregnant, because that's what we're taught, mainly to keep us from having an unintended pregnancy,” he tells Yahoo Life. “And yes, it can be [easy]. It can also be very hard.”

How can someone determine their options?

Gomez said that she had to grieve about her infertility but is excited about becoming a mom one day. The Only Murders in the Building star highlighted surrogacy and adoption as her primary avenues, with the latter being of particular interest because her mother, Mandy Teefey, was adopted. “I probably wouldn’t be here. I don’t know what her life would’ve been like,” Gomez said of her mother’s journey. “She and I are very thankful for how life played out.”

Everyone on this path though has a different journey and experts agree that options are determined on a case-by-case basis.

“This is where patients have to be very active in their care, and they have to learn from their doctors what the issues are. Have a workup to look for problems that can be corrected to then be given options of treatment plans that meet their needs and meet their circumstances,” says Grifo. “It's very personal. It requires a lot of care and understanding and a lot of empathy, and patients need to be active in it.”

He explains that women, specifically, are more likely to get counseled early to understand their biology and what’s available to them in family planning. “You have to be very proactive,” he says, praising those who are, like Gomez.

Issues with insurance coverage or cost can also be barriers to access certain alternatives — whether it be any sort of assisted reproductive technique, like in vitro fertilization (IVF), or third-party reproduction — says Collura.

Why is it important that Gomez is speaking out?

“Every time someone, whether they are famous or not, shares their personal story about infertility it removes the stigma associated with the challenges people face when they want to build their family. Obviously with Selena’s popularity, her story will reach a huge audience,” says Collura. “When we can normalize all the ways to build a family, it also helps remove the barriers that too many people face when trying to build a family.”

There are myths and misunderstandings surrounding both adoption and surrogacy in particular, according to Collura, that someone like Gomez can help to address. The actress may bring hope and awareness to people struggling with starting a family, as well as educating younger people about the realities of the process.

“It really is amazing of her to share something that's very private, knowing that she's going to have a positive impact on a lot of people out there,” says Grifo.