Looking back. Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz discussed their decision to share their abortion story on the Tuesday, January 25, Vanderpump Rules season 9 reunion.
“When we were deciding to open up about our fertility and going to the fertility doctor, these were the kind of questions that were going to come up,” the Utah native, 35, said on the Bravo show. “When you talk about these things, it can feel isolating, and it can feel off-limits. I don’t think we should shy away from them. I think we should bring more attention to them. I just wanted to follow my heart.”
The “You’re Gonna Love Me” podcast host noted that she only “recently told” her parents, saying, “I didn’t want to hear what other people thought about it and I didn’t want others to try to change my mind.”
Schwartz, 39, who “never told anyone” about the pregnancy termination, chimed in, “We were a disaster [back then]. Highs and lows but tomorrow was never promised at that point in our relationship. … It was not a snap decision, and it wasn’t an easy decision, but it was our decision.”
Maloney agreed, pointing out that “pregnancy won’t fix a relationship that isn’t strong enough to begin with.”
The couple are currently trying to conceive their first child. While documenting their fertility journey on season 9 of the show, they revealed their past abortion.
“Tom and I’d been together for a year, and it was not pretty. Like, we fought all the time,” Maloney said in an October 2021 episode. “I wanted it to work out, but I was just like if anything, he’s going to leave and I’m going to be a single mom. … Everyone, every woman, every person should be able to decide what’s best for them.”
The Witches of WeHo cofounder added at the time: “I think we would have broke[n] up and [been] like, ‘This is too much.’ But we would have been good parents.”
When the former SUR waitress was subsequently slammed via Instagram for the decision, she clapped back earlier this month. “Have the day you deserve,” she told a troll who told her she didn’t “deserve” a baby.
Maloney isn’t hoping to “gain sympathy” by sharing her story, she said in a November 2021 podcast episode, explaining, “[I want to] open up a part of my past that maybe would have people connect with me a little more on what I’ve been through. Maybe other people have been through something like that.”
