American writer and director Lena Dunham and her husband, Luis Felber, have welcomed their first child, a baby girl born via surrogate.
The happy news quickly took a darker turn online, as some people brought up Dunham’s controversial comments about abortion from years ago.
While some fans celebrated the couple becoming parents, others accused them of “buying” a baby.
“Somebody needs to save that poor kid from those monsters,” one person wrote.
Lena Dunham and Luis Felber welcomed their first baby girl born via surrogacy
The 40-year-old shared the news in a Vogue op-ed published on September 16.
Describing the pregnancy, she wrote, “She was preparing herself, inside our surrogate’s strong and healthy body, and as the clothes stacked up in the box, so did some sense that she was becoming real.”
The announcement marked a major moment for Dunham, who has spoken openly about wanting to become a mother despite years of serious health and fertility struggles.
In April, she told Today that motherhood had always been part of the future she imagined for herself.
“Some people don’t dream about being mothers, but I had. And a big part of my identity was that I was going to do that someday and in this way.”
She further said she had reached a place where she felt grateful that families could be created in different ways.
“Whatever way it happens, I will feel so grateful.”
Sadly, Dunham’s announcement did not receive a warm response from everyone online
Camylla Battani/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Several social media users immediately referenced a 2016 comment in which Dunham said she wished she had experienced an abortion.
The remark came during an episode of her podcast Women of the Hour, while she was discussing abortion and the stigma surrounding it.
Dunham explained that she had never had an abortion but had realized she was carrying her own stigma around the issue.
“Now I can say that I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had,” she said at the time.
Her comment caused backlash at the time, for which Dunham apologized and said the remark was intended as a “distasteful joke,” rather than a statement that she wanted to trivialize abortion.
In her apology, she wrote that she would “never, ever intentionally trivialize the emotional and physical challenges of terminating a pregnancy.”
She also said her goal was to increase awareness and reduce stigma around reproductive choice.
That old controversy resurfaced as soon as news of Dunham’s daughter spread
Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
One commenter wrote, “Very unusual considering her recent history with abortion,” while another said, “After 38 abortions that’s the safest way.”
Meanwhile, other users questioned the use of a surrogate because Dunham had undergone a hysterectomy
One person said, “I’m assuming she bought the baby since she had a hysterectomy,” while another wrote, “She had to use a surrogate because she was so busy doing nothing? I swear, these wealthy groomers are buying babies.”
Others took a more supportive view and pointed out how long Dunham had wanted to become a mother.
“I’m genuinely so happy for her after reading Famesick and learning how much she wanted to be a mother and how impossible her body made that dream seem. Mazal tov!” said one netizen.
Others congratulated the couple, with one saying, “A new chapter for them. Congratulations to Lena and Luis.”
One strongly defended the couple, writing, “For all you a*sholes who get your self-worth by tearing other people down behind your laptop, she had a total hysterectomy as she suffered constant pain for a decade, had many surgeries & tried alternatives that didn’t work. She has no uterus, her weight changed, & she can be a mom.”
Dunham’s path to motherhood was complicated after she suffered years of severe endometriosis pain
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Dunham suffered from constant endometriosis pain, a condition that caused her severe and persistent pain.
She underwent a hysterectomy in 2018 after years of trying different treatments and surgeries.
Speaking about the decision on Today, she explained that living with constant pain changed how she viewed the procedure.
The surgery brought relief from the pain but also forced her to grieve the possibility of carrying a child herself.
Dunham further shared that the emotional impact became clearer after the operation.
“In the moment, my pain was so overriding that I put those other thoughts aside, and it was only in the aftermath of the surgery that I started to feel the weight of what had happened.”
She later described the hysterectomy as both a “grief and a relief”.
Despite losing the ability to carry a pregnancy herself, Dunham did not give up on becoming a parent
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage
In 2025, she told The Times that she and Felber were in the process of expanding their family.
“I want to safely meet our children and then figure out how to talk about it.”
She had also tried IVF and surrogacy before welcoming her daughter.
Dunham and Felber have largely kept their relationship away from the constant spotlight, but she has spoken warmly about the life they have built together.
In a 2025 interview with People, Dunham described her marriage and her time with Felber as her “most peaceful” era.
“I am so lucky in that the last years have been, I would argue, the most peaceful of my life,” she said.
She also joked that her friends might find her less interesting on the phone these days because she’s so happy with her husband.
Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
“Sometimes I feel like I am boring on the phone with my friends, because I have a lovely husband who I adore collaborating with,” Dunham said.
The couple first met on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend. Felber later recalled that they talked for around eight hours the first time they spent time together.
They married in London in September 2021, and Felber has spoken about Dunham as both his wife and best friend.
“I love my wife, who is also my best friend.”
Felber also once described their connection as something that felt obvious to him from the beginning.
“When you find your soulmate, you just know,” he said in a conversation with The New York Times.
“I thought she hated babies,” wrote one netizen
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