Marilyn Monroe is basically the patron saint of Hollywood mysteries. Everyone wants a piece of her story, especially the dark parts. If you spend five minutes on a classic cinema forum or scrolling through old-school tabloid archives, you’ll hit the same wall of speculation: did Marilyn Monroe have an abortion, or was she just a woman struggling with a body that wouldn't cooperate? It's a heavy question. It’s also one that sits at the intersection of her very real medical records and the sensationalist junk that's been written about her since 1962.
The truth is rarely clean.
Marilyn lived in an era when "morality clauses" were a real thing in studio contracts. If a star got pregnant out of wedlock, or even in wedlock but against the studio's filming schedule, the pressure to "fix it" was immense. But with Marilyn, there’s an extra layer of tragedy: her desperate, well-documented desire to be a mother. She didn't just want a baby; she was obsessed with the idea. So, when people ask about abortions, they’re often colliding head-on with the fact that she suffered through multiple, devastating miscarriages.
Separating the Medical Records from the Tabloid Noise
To understand the rumors, you have to understand Marilyn's health. She suffered from severe endometriosis. This isn't a minor detail; it’s the center of the whole narrative. In the 1950s, treatment for endometriosis was primitive compared to what we have now. It caused her chronic, debilitating pain. It also made it incredibly difficult for her to carry a pregnancy to term.
According to various biographers, including Donald Spoto, who is widely considered one of the most reliable sources because he actually bothered to fact-check, Marilyn’s medical history is a long list of surgeries to address this pain. When fans and theorists ask did Marilyn Monroe have an abortion, they often point to her frequent hospital visits. But Spoto and other researchers argue these were often "D&Cs" (dilation and curettage) performed after miscarriages or to treat her endometriosis, not elective abortions.
She was hurting. Constantly.
The Arthur Miller Years and the Loss of Hope
During her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller, Marilyn actually got pregnant. Multiple times. This wasn't some secret rumor; it was a source of profound grief for her. In 1957, she had an ectopic pregnancy. For those who don't know the medical jargon, that’s when the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube. It’s life-threatening. It cannot result in a live birth. She had to have surgery to terminate the pregnancy to save her own life.
Is that an abortion? Medically, it’s a termination. But in the context of someone asking if she "chose" to end a pregnancy for her career, it’s a completely different story.
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Then came 1958. She was pregnant again while filming Some Like It Hot. She miscarried shortly after filming wrapped. Those who were on set, like director Billy Wilder (who was famously hard on her), witnessed a woman who was physically and emotionally unraveling. If you look at the photos of her from that era, you can see the toll. The "did Marilyn Monroe have an abortion" narrative often ignores this context—that she was a woman mourning babies she desperately wanted.
Why the Abortion Rumors Persist
So, where does the "12 or 13 abortions" rumor come from? Mostly from Fred Lawrence Guiles and Norman Mailer. Mailer, in particular, was known for "biographical fiction"—a fancy way of saying he made stuff up to make the story more poetic or shocking.
Mailer’s 1973 biography Marilyn is a primary source for the abortion claims. But here’s the kicker: Mailer admitted later that he needed the money and hyped up the controversial aspects of her life to sell books. He didn't have medical records. He had gossip.
- The Studio System: People assume she had abortions because everyone in Hollywood supposedly did. It was the "fixer" era.
- The Kennedy Connection: Rumors about her alleged affairs with Bobby or John F. Kennedy often include a "secret abortion" subplot to heighten the drama.
- Medical Misinterpretation: As mentioned, D&C procedures are used for both abortions and managing miscarriages or uterine issues. To an outsider looking at a hospital log, they look identical.
Honestly, it’s kinda gross how the public obsessed over her reproductive organs. Amy Greene, the wife of Marilyn’s photographer and close friend Milton Greene, once said that Marilyn would have given up everything—the fame, the money, the movies—just to have a child. That doesn't sound like a woman having a dozen elective abortions.
The Problem with "Blonde" and Modern Media
If you’ve seen the movie Blonde on Netflix (based on Joyce Carol Oates' book), you saw some pretty graphic scenes involving abortions. Here’s the problem: Blonde is fiction. It’s a "fictionalized look" at her life. Oates herself has said it's not a biography. But because the visuals are so visceral, a whole new generation is asking did Marilyn Monroe have an abortion as if the movie were a documentary. It wasn't. The talking fetus in that movie? Purely an artistic (and controversial) choice, not a historical fact.
The Evidence from Her Inner Circle
If you want the truth, you look at the people who held her hand.
Marilyn’s longtime gynecologist, Dr. Leon Krohn, is a key figure here. While doctors usually keep their mouths shut, the general consensus among those who researched his papers is that Marilyn’s struggles were natural and pathological. She had a "tipped uterus" and the aforementioned endometriosis. These are physical barriers to motherhood.
Then there’s her makeup artist and confidant, Allan "Whitey" Snyder. He saw her at her most vulnerable. He spoke about her depressions following her miscarriages. He didn't speak about "abortions" as a routine part of her life. He spoke about a woman who bought baby clothes and then had to give them away.
Think about that.
The Kennedy Rumor Mill
We have to talk about the 1962 rumors. This is the "big one" that theorists love. Some claim Marilyn had an abortion in July 1962, just weeks before she died, and that the baby was Bobby Kennedy’s.
Is there a paper trail? No.
Is there a witness? Not a reliable one.
Most of this comes from "informants" cited by private investigators like Fred Otash, whose credibility is, frankly, in the gutter. They were in the business of selling scandals. While it's impossible to prove a negative, there is zero clinical evidence that she underwent a procedure in the weeks leading up to her death. Her autopsy report, performed by Dr. Thomas Noguchi, didn't mention any recent pregnancy or signs of a recent abortion, though he did note the condition of her internal organs.
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What We Actually Know
If we strip away the movies and the trashy paperbacks, we are left with a few hard facts:
- Chronic Illness: Marilyn had endometriosis, which caused her extreme pain and fertility issues throughout her adult life.
- Documented Miscarriages: She lost at least three pregnancies that we know of for sure—one ectopic, and two late-stage miscarriages.
- No Clinical Proof: There is no surviving medical record of an elective abortion.
- Psychological Impact: The loss of her pregnancies contributed significantly to her depression and her reliance on barbiturates.
She was a person, not a set of statistics. The question "did Marilyn Monroe have an abortion" often feels like an attempt to find a "reason" for her tragic end, or a way to paint her as either a victim of the patriarchy or a cold careerist. In reality, she was likely just a woman with a very common, very painful medical condition who lived in a time when she couldn't get the help she needed.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Researchers
If you're looking to dig deeper into the real history of Marilyn Monroe, don't start with TikTok or fictionalized movies. The reality is much more interesting—and much more heartbreaking—than the myths.
- Read Donald Spoto’s Biography: If you want the most fact-checked version of her life, Marilyn Monroe: The Biography is the gold standard. He actively debunks many of the "abortion" myths with timeline analysis.
- Research 1950s Endometriosis Treatments: To understand why she was in the hospital so much, look at the history of "hormone therapy" and surgery from that era. It explains her hospitalizations without needing to invent scandals.
- Check the Autopsy Report: It’s public record. You can read Dr. Noguchi’s findings yourself. It’s clinical and cold, but it’s the only physical evidence we have of her state at the time of her death.
- Ignore the "Secret Diary" Claims: Every few years, someone claims to have found a diary where she confesses to secret pregnancies. None of these have ever been authenticated by the Monroe estate.
Ultimately, the obsession with Marilyn's reproductive history says more about our culture than it does about her. We want her to be a symbol of something. But she was a woman who wanted a family and couldn't have one. That's not a conspiracy; it's just a tragedy.
The next time you hear someone bring up the "12 abortions" figure, remember where it came from: a man trying to sell a book in 1973. Facts matter, especially for a woman who can no longer defend her own story.