Rosie O'Donnell has revealed she secretly underwent a facelift at age 64, opening up about the emotional struggle, guilt, and changing beliefs that led her to the decision.

In a deeply personal essay posted to her Substack titled "Decisions," O'Donnell said she once strongly opposed cosmetic surgery and even saw facelifts as a betrayal of her values.

According to PageSix, she wrote that she once considered herself someone who would "never — ever" get such a procedure.

"I used to feel very strongly about facelifts. Not casually — morally," she wrote. She explained that she once believed cosmetic surgery went against her ideas about aging and feminism. But her thinking shifted after she lost about 50 pounds and began noticing changes in her appearance that she struggled to accept.

She described looking in the mirror and feeling like what she saw was not simply aging, but something harder to accept.

"It wasn't wrinkles—it was gravity," she wrote. "I'd look in the mirror and think, this isn't aging, this is melting with intention."

O'Donnell said she tried to accept her reflection as natural, but over time, that acceptance began to feel dishonest. She eventually decided to research cosmetic options, even though the choice conflicted with her earlier beliefs.

Rosie O'Donnell Opens Up About Family Reaction

The decision was not easy for her family. Her 13-year-old child Clay strongly questioned the idea, telling her she had "earned" her wrinkles and warning that young people look up to her. O'Donnell admitted those words stayed with her.

"I wouldn't be able to respect you if you did it," Clay told her, according to O'Donnell, a comment she said deeply affected her thinking, DailyMail reported.

The comedian said she paused the decision for months, reflecting on what it would mean for her identity and the message it might send. She eventually concluded that her body should not be controlled by any belief system, even one she once supported.

"If I'm teaching Clay anything, it can't be that my body belongs to an idea either," she wrote. "Even a good idea."

After undergoing the procedure in January, O'Donnell said she is now satisfied with the results. She described herself as still looking like herself, just more rested and at ease.

"I wanted to still be me, just... less haunted," she wrote. "I didn't disappear, I didn't become someone else — I just stopped arguing with the mirror."

O'Donnell also acknowledged feeling guilt over the cost and privilege of the surgery, noting it was more expensive than anything she had ever paid for a car.

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