Berry has been married twice. Her first marriage was to former baseball player David Justice, shortly after midnight on January 1, 1993. The couple separated in 1996 and their divorce was finalized in 1997. Justice played with the Atlanta Braves and experienced a measure of fame as the team rose to prominence in the early 1990s. The couple found it difficult to maintain their relationship while he was playing baseball and she was filming elsewhere. Berry has stated publicly that she was so disappointed after her breakup with Justice that she considered taking her own life, but she could not bear the thought of her mother finding her body.
Berry's second marriage was to musician Eric Benét. They met in 1997 and married in early 2001 on a beach in Santa Barbara. Berry credited Benét with support after she was involved in a February 2000 car accident. She suffered a concussion and left the scene of the accident before the police arrived, resulting in a misdemeanor charge. Berry stated she felt "really good about the resolution"; she pled no contest, paid a fine and was placed on three years' probation.
The couple, however, separated in 2003. After the separation, Berry stated, "I want love, and I will find it, hopefully". While married to Benét, Berry adopted his daughter, India. The divorce was finalized in January 2005. In November 2005, Berry began dating French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry, ten years her junior. The couple met at a Versace photoshoot. After six months with Aubry, she stated in an interview, "I'm really happy in my personal life, which is a novelty to me. You know, I'm not the girl that has the best relationships".
At one point, Berry had indicated that she planned to adopt children, but her experience playing a mother in Things We Lost In The Fire opened her mind to the possibility of motherhood. After initially denying rumors, she confirmed in September 2007 that she was three months pregnant. Berry gave birth to a girl named Nahla Ariela Aubry on March 16, 2008 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Nahla means "honeybee" in Arabic; Ariela is Hebrew for "lion for God." Berry hired security guards after receiving racist threats to her unborn baby from a stalker saying her child will be "cut into hundreds of pieces." At one time, Berry indicated that she did not intend to marry again, insisting the couple's life was already complete without the need for a marriage. She has stated that she hopes to have a second child right away.