Getting real about infertility can be hard for anyone, but when it comes to celebrities, the pressure is on. So, we applaud the celebrities who are talking about their journey and providing a source of inspiration and often a bit of comic relief when it comes to their family building.
Beyoncé on Suffering Multiple Miscarriages
In a recent interview with Elle Magazine, the 38-year-old pop, hip-hop, and R&B powerhouse got candid about pregnancy losses she endured before welcoming daughter, Blue Ivy, in 2012.
“I began to search for deeper meaning when life began to teach me lessons I didn’t know I needed. Success looks different to me now. I learned that all pain and loss is in fact a gift. Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else. Then I had Blue, and the quest for my purpose became so much deeper. I died and was reborn in my relationship, and the quest for self became even stronger. It’s difficult for me to go backwards. Being ‘number one’ was no longer my priority. My true win is creating art and a legacy that will live far beyond me. That’s fulfilling.”
When asked about the one question she hates the most, Beyoncé exclaimed, “‘Are you pregnant?’ Get off my ovaries!”
Cameron Diaz on Having Kids at the Right Time and Fertility Treatment Woes
In a former interview, Diaz opened up about having kids when the timing was right. “I’ve never said never to anything in life,” she told The Telegraph in April 2014. “If I wanted kids, at any point in life, I would have them. But I’m certain that if at any point I wanted a child, that child would find its way into my life, whether through adoption or through being in a relationship with somebody who has a child. I can’t see the future, but one thing I do know is that I’m not childless.”
Cameron Diaz and her husband, Benji Madden, announced the birth of their daughter on Friday, January 3, via Instagram. “Happy New Year from the Maddens! We are so happy, blessed, and grateful to begin this new decade by announcing the birth of our daughter, Raddix Madden,” the 40-year-old began. “She has instantly captured our hearts and completed our family. While we are also overjoyed to share this news, we also feel a strong instinct to protect our little one’s privacy. So, we won’t be posting pictures or sharing any more details, other than the fact that she is really, really cute!! Some would even say RAD.”
Before welcoming baby Raddix, Diaz and Madden struggled with infertility and went through years of IVF treatment. A source told In Touch Weekly, “There were some really tough times when she thought motherhood maybe just wasn’t in the cards for her, but she never gave up hope that someday she would become a mom.” Another insider revealed that Cameron did everything she could to get pregnant “like working out and eating fertility-boosting foods, and she’s even resorted to scheduling sex.” Previous IVF treatment had been “brutal on her body” and a source added: “[She] gained weight and her moods fluctuated wildly.” It was at this point that the couple reportedly looked at other options, from surrogacy to adoption. While they were exploring other paths to parenthood, Cameron got the exciting news that she was going to become a mom and was expecting her first child.
Anne Hathaway on TTC and Infertility
“It’s not for a movie … #2,” she captioned the post, going on to hint that getting pregnant wasn’t exactly an easy journey for her and husband Adam Shulman. “All kidding aside, for everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies,” the actress added. “Sending you extra love.”
Gabrielle Union on Feeling Shame
Gabrielle previously opened up to Redbook about her struggles with IVF and the pressures she and husband Dwyane Wade feel about trying for a family later in life. “So far, it has not happened for us,” she said. “There’s a certain amount of shame that is placed on women who have perhaps chosen a career over starting a family younger. The penance for being a career woman is barrenness. You feel like you’re wearing a scarlet letter.” But all is not lost, she told the Today show. “There is so much hope; there are so many options.”
Kim Kardashian on Surrogacy
“I didn’t know that I was going to be so open [with my fertility challenges],” she told Glamour in its July issue. “But meeting people at my fertility doctor’s office who are going through the same things I’m going through, I thought, ‘Why not share my story?’ It’s been really emotional.” Kardashian opened up about her fears over connecting with Chicago in the same way that she did with her other children. But the bond was definitely still there: “It’s crazy how … instantly when the baby came out, there was no weird feeling that I was so nervous about, [like] ‘am I gonna feel the same way?’ It was the same exact feeling [as with the other kids]. That was instantly a relief for me, because that’s what I was most nervous about, and I just feel lucky that I’ve had such a good experience with surrogacy.”
Chrissy Teigen on Nosy Questioning
Back in September 2015, before anyone in the public knew that Luna would be born just months later, Teigen alluded to her fertility struggles in a conversation with Tyra Banks on FABLife, according to Us Weekly: “I can’t imagine being that nosy, like, ‘When are the kids coming?’ because who knows what somebody’s going through, who knows if somebody’s struggling? I would say, honestly, [that] John and I were having trouble. We would have had kids 5, 6 years ago if it had happened, but my gosh, it’s been a process.”
Dylan Dreyer on Secondary Infertility
“So many women are going through their own fertility issues, and I want to open up the conversation to get us all talking instead of sneaking onto that baby chat room and scrolling endlessly through the comments hoping to stumble upon someone going through a similar situation,” she wrote. “Well, here I am, putting myself out there, and maybe it will give just one other woman the motivation to keep plugging along.”
When telling her story of secondary infertility, Dylan said she felt like she needed to offer a disclaimer that she and Brian are tremendously grateful for their son Calvin. “I know there are women who struggle to have one baby and here I am wanting more. I do not take for granted what God has given me,” she wrote for TODAY Parents. “That being said, we want to give Calvin a sibling. The way Cal loves on other babies and asks to hold them and gently touches their arms shows me that he would be an amazing older brother…. We have so much love to give and we want to grow our family. We thought it would be easy to do that, and it’s not.”
Dylan was just starting the IVF process when she got the good news. “My doctor calls and says, ‘Don’t take anything. You’re pregnant!'” she said on TODAY in July, near tears. “I’m just so happy now.” Congratulations to Dylan, Brian, and Calvin. Dylan recently gave birth to her second son, Oliver.
View this post on InstagramRelaxed and ready for home! Thank you everyone for your outpouring of love and kindness as we welcomed little Oliver into the world! We are absolutely overjoyed with love. This must be what Heaven is like! #goolliego
A post shared by Dylan Dreyer (@dylandreyernbc) on Jan 5, 2020 at 2:12pm PST
Jaime King on 8 Years of Infertility
Not long after welcoming her first son, James Knight, Jaime shared with her Instagram followers the difficulties getting to that moment.
“This is the truth about conceiving my son and struggles after 8 yrs of pain and undiagnosed PCOS & endometriosis. 9 doctors until Dr. Randy Harris diagnosed me & saved my life from a severe ectopic, 5 miscarriages, 5 rounds of IVF, 26 IUIs, most with no outcome, 4 1/2 years of trying to conceive, 26 hours of brutal labor, early delivery b/c of sudden preeclampsia…” she wrote.
“I was hiding what I was going through for so long, and I hear about so many women going through what I went through,” she told People. “If I’m open about it, hopefully it won’t be so taboo to talk about it.”
While pregnant with her second son, Leo Thames, she opened up to Fit Pregnancy, saying, “When someone tells you, ‘Oh, you might not be able to [carry a child],’ you feel like it’s the one thing that you have that’s this gift, that makes you a woman, and there’s something wrong with you.”
Halsey on Endometriosis and Egg Freezing
Because endometriosis can lead to fertility issues, Halsey is taking control of her reproductive future and freezing her eggs now to maximize her options for starting a family down the line.
“When I tell people that, they’re like, ‘You’re 23, why do you need to do that? Why do you need to freeze your eggs?’ Doing ovarian reserve is important for me, because I’m fortunate enough to have that as an option, and I need to be aggressive about protecting my fertility [and] about protecting myself,” she said. “Taking these measures to make sure that I get to have a hopefully bright future and achieve the things that I want to achieve by doing the ovarian reserve is really important.”
Read inspiring stories from our patients documenting their unique journeys at Shady Grove Fertility.
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