‘I used to get pregnant all the time’: Lily Allen ‘can’t remember’ how many abortions she has had

Lily Allen has opened up in strikingly candid fashion about her reproductive health, revealing she “can’t remember” how many abortions she’s had over the years. The singer, 40, made the revelation during a conversation with her longtime best friend Miquita Oliver, 41, on their podcast Miss Me? while discussing birth control and their early experiences with contraception.

Reflecting on her past, Lily described her reproductive history as a “complete disaster area,” saying she used to “get pregnant all the time” before getting an IUD. “I think I’m on my third, maybe fourth [IUD],” she said. “Before that, it was a complete disaster. Yeah, I’d get pregnant all the time.”

When Miquita admitted she didn’t know Lily had ever had an abortion, Lily jokingly broke into song, parodying Frank Sinatra’s My Way: “Abortions, I’ve had a few… but then again, I can’t remember exactly how many.” Laughing, she added, “I think maybe like, I want to say four or five.”

Miquita responded with warmth and solidarity: “I’ve had about five too! Lily, I’m so happy I can say that and you can say it, and no one came to shoot us down. No judgment.”

Lily went on to recall one of her past experiences, describing a moment when an ex paid for her abortion and how, at the time, she found it “romantic.” Miquita agreed, saying, “I actually think that is romantic.” But Lily quickly reconsidered: “Am I an idiot? What, getting rid of the problem? No, I don’t think it’s generous or romantic. That’s, what, 500 quid? Kids are a lot more expensive.”

She also admitted she never heard from that partner again after the abortion. “I mean, fair, to be honest. I was a fing crazy b* — still am!” she said, with characteristic blunt humor.

Miquita reflected on her own first abortion experience, saying she was “very excited” at the time. “I felt like I was becoming a woman,” she said. She remembered running into several people from school at her local clinic, adding, “As a young woman starting your contraceptive journey, I was quite excited. It meant that I was having sex.”

Later in the podcast, Miquita revealed she once felt ashamed of having had multiple abortions but no longer carries that guilt. “Why the f*** should I be ashamed?” she said. “I’ve had a few.”

Lily, who shares daughters Ethel, 13, and Marnie, 11, with ex-husband Sam Cooper, shared frustration at the pressure women feel to justify their reasons for terminating pregnancies. “It actually irritates me,” she said. “I’ve seen memes from pro-choice accounts that highlight exceptional reasons — like fatal disabilities or danger to the mother — and it’s like, shut up! ‘I don’t want a f***ing baby right now’ is reason enough.”

Her outspoken stance echoes comments she made following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. During a surprise performance with Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury, she dedicated her song F** You* to the justices responsible for the ruling, flipping the middle finger and shouting, “We hate you guys!” The moment went viral and was widely praised by pro-choice advocates.

Following the performance, Lily took to Instagram to reaffirm her position: “I wish people would stop posting examples of exceptional reasons for having abortions. Most people I know, myself included, just didn’t want to have a f***ing baby — and that’s reason enough. We don’t have to justify it.”

Lily has also spoken in the past about the deep pain of pregnancy loss. In 2008, she suffered a miscarriage while dating Ed Simmons of The Chemical Brothers. Two years later, during her marriage to Cooper, she lost another baby at six months and nearly died from septicemia.

“I nearly died. But I was so numb and I didn’t care. I’d just lost my baby, and that is how numb I was,” she once said. “It’s not something you get over. I held my child. It was horrific and painful — one of the hardest things that can happen to a person.”

Despite the trauma, Lily went on to recover physically and give birth to her two daughters in the years that followed.

Her recent podcast comments arrive amid sweeping reforms to abortion rights in the UK. Just last month, British MPs voted in favor of decriminalizing self-managed abortions, marking the most significant shift in reproductive legislation in over 50 years. The new law ensures that women will no longer face prosecution for ending their own pregnancies, even beyond the 24-week limit — although criminal penalties will remain for medical professionals who violate the legal boundaries and for partners who force abortions without consent.

Pro-choice activists and lawmakers have welcomed the change, calling it a crucial victory for women’s autonomy.

As for Lily, she continues to challenge taboos with her trademark mix of honesty, humor, and unapologetic candor — refusing to let shame dictate how women talk about their bodies or their choices.