Jennifer Aniston denies reports she is adopting a child after previously condemning media scrutiny in essay

Jennifer Aniston has denied rumours that she is adopting a child after the actress previously condemned the media’s obsession with celebrities.

The reports that Aniston was possibly adopting began during the filming of the Friends reunion, with People reporting that numerous tabloids in Europe claimed the star had informed her co-stars of her decision.

In a statement to the outlet, a representative for Aniston said that the story is a “fabrication”, while Aniston’s representative also told TMZ that the rumour is “false and never happened”.

The 52-year-old first addressed the constant and overbearing interest in her love life and whether she planned to start a family in a 2016 essay in which she wrote: “For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up. I’m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of ‘journalism,’ the ‘First Amendment’ and ‘celebrity news.’”

After reflecting on the constant scrutiny that she and then-husband Justin Theroux faced, the actress continued: “If I am some kind of symbol to some people out there, then clearly I am an example of the lens through which we, as a society, view our mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, female friends and colleagues.

“The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing. The way I am portrayed by the media is simply a reflection of how we see and portray women in general, measured against some warped standard of beauty.”

Elsewhere in the essay, Aniston discussed “how much we define a woman’s value based on her marital and maternal status,” while acknowledging the “sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant” and how it points to “the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they’re not married with children”.

Aniston also spoke of the public pressure placed upon her relationships during an interview with Elle, where she opened up about her marriages to Brad Pitt, which ended in 2005, and Theroux, who she separated from in 2017.

Explaining that she doesn’t feel a “void”, the Friends star said at the time that she believes both of her marriages were successful and that when they came to an end it was because they both chose to be happy.

The actress addressed the damage that the focus on her private relationships does as well, telling the outlet that the media obsession diminishes “everything I have succeeded at, and that I have built and created”.

“It’s such a shallow lens that people look through. It’s the only place to point a finger at me as though it’s my damage - like it’s some sort of a scarlet letter on me that I haven’t yet procreated, or maybe won’t ever procreate,” she said.

The Independent has contacted a representative for Aniston for comment.