7 Celebrities that have struggled with infertility

It might seem like you are the only person you know who is struggling with infertility. 

A lot of this feeling is due to the fact that historically, infertility has not been something that people have talked about publicly. 

However, times are changing and women are starting to speak up about the struggles of infertility and share their stories that help others going through the process feel like they are not the only one and not everyone around them, as it may seem, is easily getting pregnant. 

Within the past few years, we are even seeing celebrities start to openly talk about their difficult paths-to-parenthood and how they had to keep their struggles to themselves. 

Our current culture is changing around women’s health and the open discussion of miscarriage and infertility treatments is becoming more prevalent, with more celebrities coming out with their stories. 

Here are some celebrities who have spoken out about their IVF journey:

Mariah Carey spoke with Barbara Walters and opened up about her miscarriage as well as her successfully delivering twins with help from a fertility clinic.

She stated that both fertility treatments and acupuncture helped her to conceive her baby boys.

She also mentioned in the interview that progesterone shots were one of the worst parts for her saying “The main thing I did that was tough, was to go on progesterone like every month… and then when I was pregnant, I had to stay with the progesterone for 10 weeks”.

If you'll have to do progesterone shots like Mariah, you can use our tips on how to make progesterone shots less painful. 

Chrissy Tiegen, a model/TV host/cookbook author, and wife of musician John Legend, has been very open with her followers on social media about her struggles while undergoing IVF and even dealing with postpartum depression after having her first baby in 2016. 

Tiegen talks about that feeling those struggling with infertility often have where everyone seems to be pregnant but you, saying, "It’s also easy to grow resentful of how easy it is for some people, when you’re literally mixing your own powders and chemicals to inject into your belly, shoving progesterone up there”. 

Tiegen continues by talking about the disappointment of her first IVF cycle failing, “You hear stories about IVF working the first try. But you’ll hear a lot more stories about when it takes a few times. Ours didn’t work the first time, and it was devastating. You realize that a lot of it is luck, and you can’t blame things on yourself...There’s no right way to do IVF. You just have to keep hoping that it will happen. It’s easy for some, and not for others. And that’s okay.”

Tiegen and Legend transferred a male embryo 2 years after their first successful birth, which led to their second child, Miles Theodore born in 2018. 

Kim K has gone as far as to even be filmed at the fertility clinic when getting an ultrasound during her journey using IVF to have her second child, Saint.

After getting pregnant naturally and having her first baby, North, Kim found that she and her husband, Kanye West, were having difficulty conceiving a second time.

After having North, Kim’s next three children were all conceived from IVF, Kim carrying her second child, Saint, herself. However, due to pregnancy complications (primarily preeclampsia & placenta accreta) making both pregnancies very difficult, her third and fourth child were each separately born via surrogate. 

Céline conceived her first child via IVF in 2001 and 8 years later went back to her fertility clinic to transfer her embryos she still had in storage for a second attempt to get pregnant.

These embryos that were frozen for 8 years, once thawed and transferred, resulted in Dion becoming pregnant at 41 years of age and giving birth to twins.

However, the journey was not easy, as Céline has shared in interviews that she had 7 failed rounds of IVF attempts in her journey to conceive her twins. 

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have been very open online about their struggles with infertility in the hopes that sharing their story will encourage others to do so as well and to give others hope in the process. 

Zuckerberg and Chan suffered three miscarriages over a couple of years, before their fourth pregnancy from IVF finally resulted in a baby girl, Maxima. 

In his Facebook post announcing the pregnancy, Zuckerberg says “In today's open and connected world, discussing these issues doesn't distance us; it brings us together. It creates understanding and tolerance, and it gives us hope”. 

He goes on to say that they realized after starting to talk about their struggles that many friends have been through the same difficulties and he hopes that the couples’ openness helps more people feel comfortable to share their stories as well. The couple has since had a second daughter, born in 2017, named August.
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Not all infertility struggles & paths to parenthood lead to the fertility clinic

Romee Strijd, Victoria’s Secret model, opened up on her Youtube channel this year that she had been struggling with infertility caused by over-exercising and diets that led to losing her period for 7 years.

After taking the time to change her habits and put less stress on her body, by doing less high-intensity workouts and changing her diet, she is happy to announce that she is naturally pregnant with a baby girl.

If you're trying to get pregnant naturally, check our out tips on how to maximize your chances of success each month. 

Hoda Kotb, an anchor on the Today show, announced that she had adopted a second baby girl, Hope, just last year in April 2019. Hoda adopted her first daughter, Hayley Joy, in 2017 and wanted to give her daughter a sibling to grow up with.

Kotb has said that she was inspired to adopt by her interview with Sandra Bullock, who also chose to go through a years long process to adopt and now has two children.

In an interview on the Today show with her co-anchors, Hoda says of her newest child Hope, "The name came because there are a lot of women out there who are hoping that their day is coming too, and I know the feeling of it not happening for a long time".

These are just some of the women and couples who have spoken out about their journey but there are so many more who are still struggling silently to grow their family.
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Infertility is more common than many of us think or feel and shouldn’t be a topic that women shy away from discussing. Knowledge is power and sharing such personal struggles, no matter how painful or seemingly taboo, can impact so many other women and men who feel alone. 

Sharing your journey can even give someone else the awareness and courage to take action and begin this trialling journey themselves or take steps to preserve their fertility to avoid difficulty later on. 

Not only can just the knowledge that someone else has been through the same struggles provide a huge benefit mentally, you may also learn something about the path to parenthood that helps you move further toward success on your journey. 

Have you shared your infertility struggles with anyone or kept it private?