In fact, in the actress' soon-to-be-published memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up, the 29-year-old TV star reveals for the first time that she got an abortion in late 2010. Naya discovered she was pregnant just weeks after breaking up with actor Ryan Dorsey, whom she later wed in 2014 and is now the father of her 11-month-old baby boy, Josey Dorsey.
Naya chose not share the news with Ryan at the time, instead choosing to focus on her career. The actress says she terminated the pregnancy during a day off from filming an episode of Glee.
"It was very scary to open up about everything," Naya says in People's Sept. 5 issue, out Friday. "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."
After the news was made public (and received some backlash), Naya took to Twitter Tuesday to address her past. "I set out to write a book that was true to myself and would hopefully help others along the way. Media will always distort anything," she tweeted. " I hope that you all enjoy my story and respect my good intentions in sharing them with you. Xoxo #sorrynotsorry."
In Sorry Not Sorry, Naya also reveals that she battled anorexia during her teens. "By the time I was a sophomore, I started feeling that what had begun as a game had maybe gone too far. I just avoided food at all costs," she writes in the book, as excerpted by People. "If my mom had packed a lunch for me, I'd either trash it or find some excuse to give it away." It wasn't until she began writing a memoir, Naya says, that she realized the seriousness of her eating disorder. "I was so young and it just seemed to be the norm. Everyone was going through similar stuff," she explains. "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."
Naya's memoir is out Sept. 13, and she'll be saving a copy for her son. "I hope Josey will read it one day," she tells People. "I hope it gives him a better perspective on the issues women face."
When Naya's book deal was announced in 2015, her publisher described it as a "warts-and-all account" of her young life. It includes "candid thoughts on topics ranging from dating...to the challenges of being mixed-race in Hollywood." As a source told E! News at the time, the memoir is "very honest and real. She talks about growing up poor and all the trouble she had when she was younger. It's things that a lot of woman can relate to...She talks about having to choose between her career and school and she shares all the crazy jobs she had before landing Glee."
"I've done a lot of living," she tells People. "I'm a 79-year-old trapped in a 29-year-old's body."
