Grey's Anatomy: Katherine Heigl Was Caught In A Lose-Lose Situation Over Her Exit

Long before Katherine Heigl officially concluded her tenure on "Grey's Anatomy," she had already been tried in the court of public opinion. Reports about her behavior on set were constant fodder in the late aughts, but her post-"Grey's Anatomy" interview with Entertainment Weekly from 2010 paints a different picture. Despite rumors that Heigl refused to show up to work, the "Knocked Up" actor revealed that her departure culminated after a difficult decision about prioritizing her family. She and her husband, Josh Kelley, had begun the long process of adopting a child from South Korea. After the adoption was official, things started to crystalize.

"I went on my family leave and spent three months in Utah and just got to be a mom, and it changed my whole perspective..." Heigl recalled. "That was really the turning point for me." As Heigl tells it, this wasn't an abrupt decision either. She had been in conversation with showrunner Shonda Rhimes about her growing family and made sure to communicate her inability to commit to the show any longer. As much as she loved her job, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"I think it was a little bit shocking for everybody," Heigl acknowledged, "and a little bit like, 'Can't we find a way to work it out?' And I really wanted to, but at the same time I just felt like I couldn't sacrifice my relationship with my child."

The consequences of Katherine Heigl's decision to leave were not lost on the actor. From the beginning, she understood the weight of what she was undertaking. And though she knew that she was making the right decision for her family, she admitted how much it affected her "Grey's Anatomy" family. She had to choose between two loves, no matter how much it hurt.

"[E]ven though I know I'm disappointing the fans, and I know I'm disappointing the writers and my fellow cast members and the crew, I just had to make a choice," Heigl said. "I hope I made the right one." Heigl had built a career out of Isobel Stevens and held her close to her heart. If any fans were left feeling cold at Heigl's final appearance as the character, that wasn't the intention of the production. Her final episode in January came out with the pretense of having a follow-up that never came.

"[W]e just didn't quite know how to do it appropriately, gracefully, and respectfully to the audience," Heigl confessed. "And I think we all felt that it wasn't respectful to the audience to bring [Izzie] back again and then have her [leave] again. We did it twice this season. It starts to feel a little manipulative." Even if fans may disagree with that, there is no doubt Heigl left behind a legacy in some of the best episodes in "Grey's Anatomy."