HOLLYWOOD—Some celebrities love to share their experience with IVF, and I would as well. It’s a long journey and a painful one. You may recall last year in April 2022, during an episode of the Hulu series, “The Kardashians,” Kourtney opened up to mom Kris Jenner about wanting to have a child with Travis Barker. She told her mom that treatments were going “Awful.”
She also said that she and Travis wanted to have a baby and that the doctor took them down the road of doing IVF, and she mentioned it wasn’t an amazing experience. She said, the medication they gave her put her into menopause. The medication put her into depression, according to published reports. Kourtney isn’t the only celebrity that went through IVF. Kristen Wiig, opened up three years ago about her difficult journey to parenthood with fiancé Avi Rothman, with whom she welcomed twins via surrogate in 2020.
In a published article she said, “We’ve been together for about five years, and three of them were spent in an “invitro fertilization haze.” Emotionally, spiritually and medically, it was probably the most difficult time in my life. “I wasn’t myself.” It got to the point where I just kind of stopped talking about it entirely, because I would get sad whenever someone asked. It was just part of life. I gave myself hormone shots in airplane bathrooms and at restaurants-and those shots are no joke.
“The Bridesmaids” actress added, “It can be the most isolating experience. But I’m trying to find that space where I can keep my privacy and also be there for someone else who may be going through it. She’s very grateful that she experienced the closeness between her and her surrogate. Another actress that went through the journey was Amy Schumer. Less than one year after welcoming her son Gene in May 2019 with husband Chris Fischer, the actress and comedian revealed on January 9 that she was undergoing invitro fertilization (IVF) in hopes of giving Gene a sibling.
Besides experiencing bruises on her stomach from hormone injections, she also shared that she was run down and emotional, and asked fans to share any advice or experience with the process that they may have. The most important thing she learned was to be patient and kind to herself and that there are so many of us willing to be there for each other. In early 2022, she further opened up, about the process and having her uterus removed, adding, “So we’re gonna have just one child and we’re just enjoying our little family and I’m just focusing on that.”
Chrissy Teigen and husband John Legend tried for years to get pregnant before turning to IVF. They eventually welcomed daughter Luna in 2016, followed by son Miles in 2018, but the process was challenging, and Teigen has long been outspoken about her experience in hopes of normalizing the conversation for other women struggling with infertility.
“You hear stories about IVF working the first try. But you’ll hear a lot more stories about when it takes a few times. She said hers didn’t work the first time, and it was devastating,” she said in a published report. She shared how she blamed herself when it failed the first time.
In March 2022, she started IVF again, one year after a devastating pregnancy loss. Actress Gabrielle Union said she suffered several miscarriages and underwent three years of failed IVF treatments before she and her husband Dwayne Wade welcomed Kaavia James via gestational surrogate in 2017.
She had eight or nine miscarriages; Union wrote in her book. Union, who later learned that her miscarriages were caused by adenomyosis, a form of endometriosis, also got candid about how painful it can be to talk about infertility publicly. Actor Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness tried IVF twice before adopting two children Oscar and Ava. Actress Brooke Shields also tried IVF unsuccessfully until the last attempt brought her daughter Rowan into the world in 2003.
Last but not least Celine Dion, after a successful first IVF cycle resulted in the birth of the singer’s son Rene-Charles in 2001, she and her late husband Rene Angelil decided to try again. Not as easy as the first one. Then she gave birth to twin sons Eddy and Nelson in 2010. On a personal note, if anyone wants to reach out to my daughter Kelly Limoncelli who’s expecting a boy but has been through this long journey with her husband, feel free to reach out to her on Instagram under “heyitsmapleandoakley.”
Rose’s Scoop: Since Labor Day is soon approaching us, this article seemed to go with it. Wishing everyone a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend!
