Lena Dunham Welcomes First Child Amid Past Views on Abortion

Actress, writer, and producer Lena Dunham is excited to welcome her first child into the world. This comes as a bit of a surprise considering her previous statements about abortion, which she described as “a huge part of who I am.”

Dunham and her husband, Luis Felber, married in 2021, shared the news of their new family addition in a recent op-ed for Vogue.

Due to a hysterectomy in 2018 that resulted from her struggles with endometriosis, Dunham did not carry her child herself. The couple chose to work with a surrogate for their journey into parenthood.

In April, Dunham expressed her long-held desire to become a mother, stating, “Some people don’t dream about being mothers, but I had, and it was a big part of my identity that I was going to do it someday in that way.”

Describing her experience with surrogacy, she recalled a moment of vulnerability and hope: “I found myself kneeling by an exam table, fresh off a red-eye — with a rictus grin of anxious enthusiasm plastered on the lower half of my face while my eyes filled with anxious tears — clutching the hand of a woman I had met in person only twice.”

Dunham reflected on the birth of her child, writing, “Hello. I’m your mama. You … you look nothing like I thought you would, but exactly right. We’ve been waiting for you, do you know that? It was so nice of you to come.”

Her strong identity as a mother seems to contrast sharply with her previous comments on abortion. Back in 2016, Dunham openly celebrated her “bravery” and “self-knowledge” regarding her pro-abortion rights stance, even revealing that she wished she had experienced an abortion herself.

On her podcast, titled “Choice,” she stated, “I’m a – uh abortion rights activist, it’s a huge part of who I am.” Dunham recounted an experience where she was approached by a young girl discussing abortion stories, which led her to realize she hadn’t personally undergone the procedure. “I wanted to make it really clear… that as much as I was going out and fighting for other women’s options, I myself had never had an abortion,” she explained.

This realization prompted Dunham to reflect on the stigma she carried herself regarding abortion, despite her advocacy: “So many people I love – my mother, my best friends – have had to have abortions for all kinds of reasons,” she expressed. “I feel so proud of them for their bravery, for their self-knowledge, and it was a really important moment for me then to realize I had internalized some of what society was throwing at us.”

In a revealing admission, she concluded, “Now I can say that I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had.”