Pregnancy on set: How TV’s biggest shows adjusted for expecting stars

Who said being an actress is an easy task when you might have to put your personal life aside to fulfill your professional commitments?

Many celebrities discovered that they were pregnant while filming their popular shows and had to keep working still.

Here’s how production teams and writers handled it when their leading ladies were expecting:

Lisa Kudrow

During the filming of Friends Season 4 in 1997, Lisa Kudrow — who played Phoebe Buffay on the iconic sitcom — found out she was pregnant by her husband Michael Stern.

Instead of hiding it, the writers incorporated her pregnancy into the show's storyline, making Phoebe a surrogate for her brother and his wife.

Decades later, Lisa’s son Julian joined her when the Friends cast reunited for their special in 2021.

In an appearance on Conan, the actress recalled, “Afterward, he came up to me and he said, 'Can I say that I'm really proud of you? That was one of the very emotional things that happened to me.”

Courtney Cox

Six years later, Lisa’s Friends co-star, Courtney Cox (Monica Geller on the show) was also expecting during the show’s final season.

Unlike Phoebe, Monica’s character had already been established as unable to have children, so the production team had to disguise Courtney’s pregnancy with loose clothing, scarves, and oversized jackets.

Courtney and her former husband David Arquette welcomed their baby girl, Coco, in June 2004.

Sarah Jessica Parker

While filming Season 5 of Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker learned that she was expecting her first child with husband Matthew Broderick.

Instead of hiding her pregnancy, producers decided to cut the season down to 13 episodes.

Sarah gave birth to her son, James Wilkie, on October 28, 2002.

Alyson Hannigan

Alyson Hannigan was pregnant twice during her time playing Lily Aldrin on How I Met Your Mother.

During her first pregnancy in 2008 with daughter Satyana Marie, the show used the usual tricks to conceal her bump — oversized props, loose clothing, and careful camera angles.

By her second pregnancy in 2012 however, writers decided to incorporate it into the storyline, making Lily pregnant with her husband Marshall’s child.

Alyson welcomed her second daughter Keeva Jane Denisof on May 23, 2012.

Ellen Pompeo

Lastly, Ellen Pompeo, who appeared as the iconic Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, was pregnant with her first child in 2009.

To cover it up, writers created a storyline where Meredith donates part of her liver to her father.

This meant that her character was placed on bed rest, allowing Ellen to film fewer scenes while resting more in real life.

She gave birth to her daughter Stella on September 15, 2009.