Britney Spears Reveals She Had an Abortion While Dating Justin Timberlake

Britney Spears is opening up for the first time about the abortion she had in the early 2000s. 

In an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me, which was shared with People ahead of its Oct. 24 release, the pop star reveals she became pregnant during her three-year relationship with Justin Timberlake before ultimately deciding to get an abortion.

“But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young,” Spears writes in her book. She adds that if the decision to become a parent or not was hers alone, she "never would have done it" but that "Justin was so sure that he didn't want to be a father."

Reps for Timberlake have not responded to InStyle's request for comment.

Spears and Timberlake started dating in 1999 when they were just 17 and 19, respectively. The pair went on to date for three years before splitting in 2002, with Spears eventually welcoming two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline and Timberlake sharing two sons with his wife, Jessica Biel.

In addition to getting candid about that particular moment in their relationship, Spears also recalls early interactions with the former boy bander during their time together on The Mickey Mouse Club — including their first kiss.

“Being in the show was bootcamp for the entertainment industry: extensive dance rehearsals, singing lessons, acting classes, time in the recording studio, and school in between,” she shares. “The Mouseketeers quickly split into our own cliques, divided by the dressing rooms that we shared: Christina Aguilera and I were the younger kids, and we shared a dressing room. We looked up to the older kids — Keri Russell, Ryan Gosling, and Tony Lucca, who I thought was so handsome. And I quickly connected with a boy named Justin Timberlake.”

Britney added, “[Once] at a sleepover, we played Truth or Dare, and someone dared Justin to kiss me. A Janet Jackson song was playing in the background as he leaned in and kissed me.”

The Woman in Me will hit bookshelves everywhere on Oct. 24.