--- title: Naya Rivera Opens Up About Abortion, Eating Disorder description: Glee star Naya Rivera will open up for the first time about her decision to get an abortion and struggle with anorexia in her memoir. canonical: https://time.com/4464233/naya-rivera-anorexia-abortion/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-24T14:15:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:13.260Z og:title: Naya Rivera Opens Up About Her Abortion and Eating Disorder og:description: 'I hope someone out there gets something out of it' og:url: https://time.com/4464233/naya-rivera-anorexia-abortion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8292d58e44a01cb8/6988a37a97cdffe4746ad8e0/naya-rivera-abortion-anorexia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Naya Rivera Opens Up About Her Abortion and Eating Disorder twitter:description: 'I hope someone out there gets something out of it' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8292d58e44a01cb8/6988a37a97cdffe4746ad8e0/naya-rivera-abortion-anorexia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Naya Rivera Opens Up About Her Abortion and Struggle With Anorexia  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Aug 24, 2016 2:15 PM UTC  Actress Naya Rivera attends the 23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 15, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images) Actress Naya Rivera attends the 23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 15, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)David Livingston—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Aug 24, 2016 2:15 PM UTC Former _Glee_ star Naya Rivera will open up for the first time about her decision to get an [abortion](http://motto.time.com/4375317/supreme-court-texas-abortion-case/?iid=sr-link1) and [struggle with anorexia](http://motto.time.com/4383514/demi-lovato-rehab-eating-disorder/) in her forthcoming memoir, [People reports](http://www.people.com/article/naya-rivera-talks-teenage-anorexia-struggles-abortion-during-glee). In _Sorry Not Sorry_, which will be released Sept. 13, Rivera says she found out that she was pregnant by her ex-boyfriend Ryan Dorsey in late 2010 while starring as Santana Lopez on the hit Fox show. She decided [to terminate the pregnancy](http://motto.time.com/4461071/ireland-abortion-live-tweet-england/?iid=sr-link4) so she could focus on her career. “It was very scary to open up about everything,” Rivera [told People](http://www.people.com/article/naya-rivera-talks-teenage-anorexia-struggles-abortion-during-glee). “It’s not something a lot of people talk about, but I think they should. I know some people might read it and say, ‘What the Hell?’ But I hope someone out there gets something out of it.” [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ Rivera also revealed that she developed anorexia as a sophomore in high school after her parents began having marital trouble, writing that she would avoid meals and throw away her lunch at school. “I was so young and it just seemed to be the norm. Everyone was going through similar stuff,” Rivera told People. “I had no way of knowing if I was going through it worse. I was juggling my feelings and it makes me sad that there are girls still going through that 15 years after I went through it.” Rivera married Dorsey in 2014 and gave birth to a son, Josey, in 2015\. Rivera wants him to read her memoir. “I hope it gives him a better perspective on the issues women face,” she told People. Read [the full story ](http://www.people.com/article/naya-rivera-talks-teenage-anorexia-struggles-abortion-during-glee)on People.com. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4464233/naya-rivera-anorexia-abortion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4464233/naya-rivera-anorexia-abortion/"},"headline":"Naya Rivera Opens Up About Her Abortion and Struggle With Anorexia","datePublished":"2016-08-24T14:15:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:13.260Z","description":"\"I hope someone out there gets something out of it\"","url":"https://time.com/4464233/naya-rivera-anorexia-abortion/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8292d58e44a01cb8/6988a37a97cdffe4746ad8e0/naya-rivera-abortion-anorexia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8292d58e44a01cb8/6988a37a97cdffe4746ad8e0/naya-rivera-abortion-anorexia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala - Arrivals","caption":"23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala - Arrivals","creditText":"David Livingston—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4464233/naya-rivera-anorexia-abortion/","name":"Naya Rivera Opens Up About Her Abortion and Struggle With Anorexia"}}]}] ```