Did Amal Clooney Do IVF? Fans Are Being Nosy

Move over, Beyoncé and Jay Z, you're not the only celebrities expecting twins anymore. On Thursday, it was announced that George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney are expecting twins in June. So did Amal Clooney do IVF, or was this a spontaneous occurrence? The pregnancy was announced on The Talk via surrogate (sorry for the terrible pregnancy pun) when host Julie Chen told the audience, "Congratulations are in order for George and Amal Clooney!" Us Weekly confirmed the news through a source. Talking about a potential pregnancy is one thing, but speculating that Amal may have used IVF is intrusive and inappropriate.

During an appearance on CBS This Morning in May 2015, host Charlie Rose asked George, if he'd ever thought about having children. The actor said he hadn't. He then added, "I mean, I've thought about it, I suppose, but it hasn't been high on my list. I’ve been asked it a lot lately, because I've gotten married and I am doing a movie with kids in it." Of course, this is the same man who repeatedly insisted that he'd never marry, even as recently as January 2014. He wed Amal just eight months later. It's a good lesson that one should rarely speak in absolutes, especially in regards to the future.

Fans are speculating that Amal underwent IVF in order to conceive, in part because of her age (she's 39) and also because of an unsubstantiated claim that Amal was planning to start IVF treatment in October 2016 after trying unsuccessfully to conceive "all summer." Now, some consider the news that she's expecting twins as further evidence that the Clooneys needed extra help growing their family. But how the couple conceived is really nobody's business, unless they decide to discuss it publicly at some point in the future.

It's actually quite possible for a 39-year-woman to conceive without help, and in fact, her age makes it more likely that she would spontaneously conceive twins. While men continuously produce sperm, women are born with all the eggs they'll ever have. As women age, so do their eggs, and older eggs are less viable. When eggs are — forgive me — close to their expiration date, the body produces more follicle-stimulating hormone, signaling the ovaries to release them. This can lead to hyperovulation, the release of more than one egg per cycle.

Therefore, older mothers are more likely to have multiple births. But again, Amal Clooney's eggs, and how they ended up fertilized, are none of our business. The idea that a woman owes us information about her womb perpetuates anti-choice arguments that seem to think the contents of a woman's womb (even before she conceives children) are up for public debate. The public is owed nothing by the Clooneys, no matter how famous they are, and, just like with private citizens, Amal's reproductive choices are hers to make, and hers to discuss — or not.