Shannen Doherty Said She 'Desperately' Wanted Children and 'Would Love' Being a Mom Before Her Death

Shannen Doherty expressed a desire to have kids before her death.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 star died Saturday, July 13, at 53 after first being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.

Doherty, who released the most recent episode of her podcast Let's Be Clear just days before she died, said in a January episode featuring her oncologist Dr. Lawrence Piro that she had been "desperately" trying to get pregnant with her ex before she had a cancer relapse in 2019.

“Not only did I want a child for myself, but I wanted it for my husband. I wanted it for our marriage. I wanted him to have that part of himself fulfilled as well,” Doherty said while discussing how her desire to have kids influenced her decisions on how she wanted to treat her cancer.

Doherty said that she and her husband at the time, Kurt Iswarienko, married in 2011 when they were "later in years."

"So when it was time to have that decision, we needed IVF, and I did a bunch of rounds of it," the Charmed alum continued.

Doherty eventually stopped IVF due to menopause and her ongoing health journey, which included a mastectomy in 2016.

After she went into remission in 2017, the cancer returned in 2019, and Doherty announced she had metastatic stage 4 cancer in 2020. In 2023, she shared that cancer had spread to her brain and bones.

Doherty and Iswarienko split in early 2023, and in November 2023, she told PEOPLE that she was just beginning to open up to love again.

"I don't really know what it looks like," she said at the time. "I have a best friend, a male best friend who we joke that we're married, and his two kids and I have had massive breakthroughs and we just love each other and hang out, and I kind of view them as my children."

"I don't know if it's that or if it's stumbling upon somebody and just feeling an instant connection. But think, as I said, I'm open, and I wasn't," she added. "It's a very brand new thing. And when I say brand new, I mean in the last three weeks, brand new."

As for having kids, she said, "God, I vacillate on it all the time."

"I think I would love nothing more than to be a mom," she added. "I always wanted it, and I think if I did it with my best friend or a partner, then I don't know any amount of time ... I look at kids who don't have parents at all, and I think if I adopt a child or whatever it is, any amount of time is better than nothing. Maybe. I don't know."

Doherty said there was a possibility that she was "just waiting for one of those clinical trials" to presumably help improve her health.

"I'm biding my time, and in the meantime, I've got my best friend's kids, and my brother [Sean]'s seven kids. They're all grown up, but that's OK," she continued.

In November 2023 on Instagram, she posted a video dancing with her friend Chris Cortazzo's kids. On July 14, he posted an Instagram tribute montage with photos of them and his kids. He captioned the post with: "My beloved friend and heart. What memories and laughter we have shared through this journey. You were my protector, my best friend and my divine wife. My heart is shattered. I love you forever my sweet dear friend."

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Doherty also spent time with Sarah Michelle Gellar's kids, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer star said on an episode of Let's Be Clear in February.

"You gave my children such a life in COVID and I was really struggling with how to give them that freedom and that room to be kids and have adventures," she told Doherty. "And you opened your home to us in COVID in a way that I will for the rest of my life be grateful for."

Doherty also expressed a desire to keep living a full life to PEOPLE.

"I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better,” she said. "I’m just not — I’m not done."

Doherty's longtime publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed Doherty's July 13 death in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE on July 14.

"It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty ... She lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease," Sloane said. "The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace."