'Friends' Star Struggles for Pregnancy

Oct. 9, 2003 -- There's been plenty of speculation about how much Courteney Cox Arquette resembles her character, Monica, on Friends. One story line in the show has definitely been a case of art imitating life: Like Monica, Cox Arquette has been struggling to have a child.

"I actually have done in vitro," says Cox, 39, whose Friends character has similarly been unable to have a baby. "It's a wonderful thing that people can do in this day and age. And I'm lucky enough to be able to afford to do it. But I think it's great. And I will do it again."

In an interview airing Friday night at 10 p.m., Cox tells 20/20's Barbara Walters: "I actually can get pregnant pretty easily," but says she has had "many miscarriages" and is now using pre-genetic testing. "We want to see if the egg is OK before I get pregnant again, because I don't want to lose any more," she adds. "We don't want to take any more chances."

Cox says she and her husband, actor David Arquette, 32, would consider adoption, but would consider a surrogate first because she wants the child to have her husband's genes. She says she is taking hormone injections.

Of Arquette, she says he has been extremely supportive during their efforts to have a child. "He's really great. He goes to every appointment with me. And he gives me all my shots."

Despite these difficulties, the couple says they couldn't be happier. As Friends winds up its last season, Cox is launching a new project with Arquette that reflects a prominent aspect of their lives — interior design. Cox, who spent a year in college studying architecture and design, has bought, renovated and sold several houses, turning a profit on all of them.

Together, Cox and Arquette are producing Mix It Up, a reality show which is inspired by their own decorating dilemmas.The show premieres this month on the Women's Entertainment channel. The couple give Walters a tour of their eclectic and somewhat eccentrically decorated home.

Arquette, who discusses his past drug abuse in the interview, tells Walters he has found happiness in his marriage to Cox. "I've gotten so much out of this marriage, and having an honest relationship. It's everything I've ever dreamed of," says Arquette. "My dreams have already come true … If I died tomorrow, I would die the happiest man."