Stars Who Struggled to Conceive Children Share Their Fertility Issues

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Stars Who Struggled to Conceive Children Share Their Fertility Issues

Sharing their struggles. It has been a long road to parenthood for many celebrity parents, including Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. “You hear stories about [in vitro fertilization] working the first try, but you’ll hear a lot more stories about when it takes a few times,” the model told New York Magazine’s The Cut in April 2018. “Ours didn’t work the first time and it was devastating.” At times, the Cravings: Hungry for More cookbook author wondered if she had done something wrong. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh I was on my feet too much, and that’s why.' You just look for anything to blame, especially yourself,” Teigen explained at the time. The pair’s IVF experience was successful in the end. Teigen and the EGOT winner welcomed daughter Luna in April 2016 and son Miles in May 2018. The Chrissy’s Court star announced in August 2020 that baby No. 3 was on the way, but she suffered a pregnancy loss the following month. “Even as I write this now, I can feel the pain all over again. ... Utter and complete sadness,” the Bring the Funny judge wrote of the tragedy in an October 2020 Medium essay. “People say an experience like this creates a hole in your heart. A hole was certainly made, but it was filled with the love of something I loved so much. It doesn’t feel empty, this space. It feels full." The Utah native is not alone in her fertility struggles, and Gabrielle Union, Kim Kardashian and more stars have all opened up about their surrogacy experiences over the years. [jwplayer uUxHaPar-zhNYySv2] As for Lea Michele, the actress struggled to conceive her and Zandy Reich’s son, Ever, due to her polycystic ovary syndrome. “[PCOS is] easy to manage it in your daily life, but when you’re trying to conceive, it’s much harder, especially if you have extremely irregular periods,” the Glee alum told Katherine Schwarzenegger of her condition in March 2021. “You never really know when you can get pregnant. On top of that, I had to have multiple procedures to remove polyps and cysts and scar tissue.” The actress went on to say, "I was like, ‘Let’s just stop.’ … I kept thinking, 'Maybe this isn’t meant to be for me. Maybe this isn’t going to happen.’ It’s something that for me, personally, was always my biggest fear in my entire life. It’s what I’ve wanted more than anything. Emotionally, it just started to build and build. ... Then we got pregnant.” Keep scrolling to read more celebrities’ stories, from Bachelor’s Astrid Loch to One Tree Hill’s Hilarie Burton.

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus

“When I was about 28, I got pregnant for the first time and I was crazy happy. I got pregnant easily. I felt very fertile, very womanly. And then, quite late in the pregnancy, my husband, Brad [Hall], and I discovered that this little fetus was not going to live,” the Thunderbolts star recalled during an April 2023 appearance on the “Wiser Than Me” podcast. “So that was emotionally devastating as you can imagine, but it got worse because I developed an infection that landed me in the hospital.” 

After Louis-Dreyfus’ “complete nightmare” of a hospital stay, she was able to head home several days later.

“I finally got out of the hospital, and I came home to recuperate, but I wasn't allowed to get out of bed yet. I was, as they say, bedridden," the Seinfeld alum noted. “[My mom, Judith Bowles], made this incredible cozy chili in a cast iron skillet with cornbread on top in the pan. She and my husband Brad set up a little card table at the foot of the bed. And the smell of that cornbread and the chili was so wonderful. … It was the best meal ever, and I didn't even eat it. The making of it was so comforting and so embracing.”

Louis-Dreyfus and Hall later welcomed sons Henry and Charlie in 1992 and 1997, respectively.

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Jessa Duggar

The 19 Kids and Counting alum revealed in February 2023 that she suffered a pregnancy loss with her fifth child, revealing she had miscarried and had to undergo a D&C (dilation and curettage) procedure.

“Right as they were wheeling me back [to the operating room], I just wanted to ask, like, ‘Just, can I please have one more ultrasound? Please, somebody check, make sure,’” Duggar, who shares four children with husband Ben Seewald, revealed in the heart-wrenching video. “I was having all these fears that maybe they got something wrong. … You know It’s irrational, but you just feel scared.”

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Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro

When the "Heal Squad" podcast host revealed in February 2023 that the couple were expecting a baby via surrogate, she explained that it had been a long journey. 

"Almost, like, a decade guys," Menounos said on Live With Kelly and Ryan of how long she and Undergaro had been trying for a baby. "It's been a long time. We've done everything — I mean, literally everything. They've tried to get me pregnant, that didn't work. Kevin had a surgery, that didn't work. He's hung me upside down like a chicken, that didn't work!" 

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Idina Menzel

During an interview in December 2022, Menzel addressed the decision to discuss an unsuccessful IVF journey in her documentary.

“No matter what the outcome, I just wanted women to feel seen in this film and people to understand what we go through,” the Broadway star, who is married to Aaron Lohr, told People about her Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage? doc.

Menzel, who shares son Walker with her ex-husband Taye Diggs, added: “It was important to me to forgo the privacy of that and allow people to have a little window into that experience.”

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Olivia Culpo

During a November 2022 episode of The Culpo Sisters, the model opened up about how her endometriosis — a condition in which cells similar to the lining of the uterus grow outside of the uterus — could make it difficult for her to have children. 

“It could be really hard for me to have babies,” she explained, noting that she was in “excruciating” and “debilitating” pain prior to her August 2020 surgery for the issue. 

“There is so much that I don’t know about what’s going to happen in the future with that condition and I worry all the time about my timeline. I feel like I have to have kids ASAP,” she said. 

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Jennifer Aniston

The Friends alum opened up to Allure in November 2022 about her struggles to conceive and the public scrutiny that went along with it.

“All the years and years and years of speculation … It was really hard,” the Breakup star explained. “I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it. I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.’ You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.”

Aniston noted that the rumors Brad Pitt had divorced her “because I wouldn’t give him a kid” were “all lies” and the Morning Show actress simply “cared about my career.”

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Lindsay Arnold

The Dancing With the Stars pro revealed in an August 2022 YouTube vlog that she was trying to conceive her second child with husband Sam Cusick, but the journey wasn't easy. In a TikTok shared later that month, she got emotional after receiving a false positive pregnancy test.

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Caroline Stanbury

The reality star revealed in July 2022 during an episode of The Real Housewives of Dubai that she and husband Sergio Carrallo planned to get pregnant following their December 2021 wedding, despite previously suffering complications.

“We have one [embryo] on ice — a baby boy,” Stanbury told E! News at the time, adding, “Sadly, I did another around, none of them were viable. [The doctor has taken me off any alcohol. We’re going to try for another round when we leave for the summer to at least get two eggs on ice.”

The Bravo personality added, “When we put them in? I don’t know.”

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Jenna Johnson

The Dancing With the Stars pro shared a glimpse of "the moment my whole world changed" after announcing her first pregnancy with Val Chmerkovskiy in July 2022. "We had actually stopped trying to conceive for about 6 months to mentally/emotionally give ourselves a break… so the shock, disbelief, and sheer joy in this moment is a memory I will never forget 🤍," she captioned an emotional Instagram video.

Johnson continued, "After two years of infertility, and hundreds of negative tests after negative tests, it was heart wrenching at times to stay optimistic and made me question whether I would ever have this opportunity. I will go into more depth about our fertility journey a little later on, but if any of you out there are struggling to get pregnant, suffering from infertility, or mourning a pregnancy loss… don’t lose HOPE."

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Peta Murgatroyd

The Dancing With the Stars pro, who is married to Maks Chmerkovskiy, announced in June 2022 that she suffered three miscarriages in two years.

"I’ve had three miscarriages and it’s been a long hard journey for Maks and I. A traumatic, stressful, super sad journey," the New Zealand native wrote via Instagram at the time. "I found it was harder to conceal this secret than just 'say it how it was' so to speak. It became harder for me to keep a happy face on, day after day."

The professional dancer continued: "I came to realize that there is nothing shameful about it. And so here I am ... this is all of me, the bare me and I hope that by me sharing my journey with all of you it could help someone else going through the same situation."

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Emily Miller

The Too Hot to Handle alum, who met boyfriend Cam Holmes during season 2 of the Netflix hit, confirmed in June 2022 that she had been hospitalized with an ectopic pregnancy.

"If I had left [the fetus] much longer my fallopian tube would [have] burst,” she wrote via Instagram at the time, noting doctors removed her fallopian tube. “It’s one of those things you just think will never happen to you. I was just so scared. Not only was I about to lose my baby but I was about to have my fallopian tube removed with the potential of my ovary too.”

She added: “Physically I’m still in a lot of pain and bed bound after the surgery but mentally it’s been even harder. … Thinking back, I definitely ignored the signs was trying to tell me early on about my ectopic pregnancy. I can only urge girls to get an early pregnancy scan just to be on the safe side to rule out any kid of potential problems.” 

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Alexander and Lauren Ludwig

The Hunger Games actor, who married wife Lauren in 2021, announced in May 2022 that she had suffered a third miscarriage.

“This woman’s strength astounds me every time. I love you @laurendludwig and your resilience through this just is one more of the countless reasons I love you,” the actor wrote via Instagram. “All the bumps life throws our way, we got this ❤️ and for anyone else, you’re not alone. It’s a hell of a lot more normal than I thought."

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Britney Spears

In May 2022, the "Stronger" singer and fiancé Sam Asghari revealed that they suffered a pregnancy loss just one month after announcing that they were expecting a baby together.

"Our love for each other is our strength. We will continue trying to expand our beautiful family," they wrote in a joint statement at the time. "We are grateful for all of your support. We kindly ask for privacy during this difficult moment."

Asghari had no children prior to his relationship with Spears, who shares sons Sean Preston, born in 2005, and Jayden, born in 2006, with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

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Kourtney Kardashian

The Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum and fiancé Travis Barker pursued IVF while trying to conceive their first child together. “Every single person on social media is always like ‘Kourtney’s pregnant, Kourtney’s pregnant, Kourtney’s gained so much weight,” Kardashian told Kris Jenner of the experience in a March 2022 clip of Hulu's The Kardashians. “It’s so rude to comment on people when you have no idea what they’re actually going through. The medication they’re giving me, they put me into menopause. … Literally into menopause.”

“It’s a beautiful thing that we'd love to have happen, but the journey is a bit hard for any woman who went on it,” she told Entertainment Tonight in April 2022 of trying to conceive a baby with Barker.

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Linda Phan

While describing her and Drew Scott’s IVF journey to Reveal magazine in March 2022, the pregnant star recalled, “I was just so anxious and sad that maybe it was too late for us. And then I’d feel dumb for waiting so long, for not having given a thought to whether I wanted kids. (Spoiler alert: I do.) I’d think, 'I should have worked harder to plan for this,' and I'd feel silly that I ignored the possibility that it might not be easy. And then I’d feel optimistic again. Then the next month it would be the same cycle of emotions.”

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Savannah Guthrie

In March 2022, the Today show cohost reflected on suffering a miscarriage between welcoming daughter Vale and son Charley in 2014 and 2016, respectively. “I stopped even letting myself hope or believe I could [get pregnant] because the years were getting on,” she told Good Housekeeping at the time, noting that she underwent multiple rounds of IVF. ”It wasn’t that I thought it was impossible; I just thought it wasn’t likely. I didn’t want to get my hopes up."

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Janet Von Schmeling

Drake Bell’s wife revealed in a March 2022 Instagram Live that she and the actor struggled to conceive their son. While the little one is their “first baby,” he was not their “first pregnancy,” the Florida native told her followers, noting that they had a “hard” time.

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Lea Michele

The actress struggled to conceive her baby boy, Ever, due to her PCOS, telling Katherine Schwarzenegger in March 2021: "I was like, ‘Let’s just stop.’ … I kept thinking, 'Maybe this isn’t meant to be for me. Maybe this isn’t going to happen.’ It’s something that for me, personally, was always my biggest fear in my entire life. It’s what I’ve wanted more than anything. Emotionally, it just started to build and build. ... Then we got pregnant.”

In February 2022, the Brunette Ambition author told her Instagram followers that she “certainly hope[d]” to conceive a second baby with Reich, writing, “Our journey bringing [Ever] into this world was not easy, and we have had some heartbreaks already this time around. But we have faith God will bring us another when the time is right.”

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David Henrie and Maria Cahill

The Wizards of Waverly Place alum and the 2011 winner of Miss Delaware welcomed their daughter, Pia, in March 2019 after three miscarriages. “Pia Philomena Francesca Henrie has brothers and sisters,” the new dad wrote on Instagram at the time. “Maria and I suffered three miscarriages before finally being able to carry Pia to full term. While it was insanely difficult recovering from miscarriage after miscarriage, we knew if we were ever going to be able to hold a baby of our own in our arms that we must not let the tragedy affect our marriage, but rather grow closer together!” 

The former Disney Channel star added: “We stayed faithful to that conviction and had a little help from @francisus. The reason Pia’s middle name is Francesca is because I personally asked Pope Francis to pray for Maria and I to have a baby. He took our hands, held them together, said a special blessing, then looked up and told me not to worry that a baby would be coming — that was pretty much exactly nine months ago. For all those who are struggling #pray #hope and #dontworry !! Always.”

After announcing in December 2021 that baby No. 3 is on the way, Henrie told his Instagram followers that his wife had previously suffered a pregnancy loss. “This past year, she suffered yet another miscarriage, our fifth,” he wrote. “I’m proud of her because she did what needed to be done to heal, and now we’ve been given another chance with our third child, and we are hopefully clear of miscarriage danger.”

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Whitney Port

After a July 2019 miscarriage, the Hills alum suffered a second pregnancy loss in January 2021. “I’m sad but I’m OK and we will try again,” the former reality star wrote via Instagram at the time. "[My husband], Tim [Rosenman], and I weren’t sure if we still wanted to put this out there. I wasn’t sure I wanted to relive the pain." When the reality star suffered another pregnancy loss in November 2021, her doctor recommended that she pursue IVF. “It’s not something in my heart that I ever wanted to do, but now just the thought of not having a second kid is too painful to bear,” Port told her YouTube followers at the time.

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Nico Tortorella and Bethany Meyers

“We’re tryin to get pregnant. It’s harder than expected,” the couple sang in an October 2021 Instagram video. “In all our years of schoolin', the books they had us foolin'. It takes more than dirty toilet sits. So, don't you worry. Your baby’s not in any hurry. It’ll happen when it’s right you’ll see. Put a baby in my belly.”

They captioned the footage: “In all seriousness though, anyone going through a fertility journey knows just how hard, exhausting and infuriating the process can be. We randomly wrote this tune one night when we were feeling extra frustrated and it’s made us laugh ever since. We hope it does the same for you.”

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Rebel Wilson

The Pitch Perfect star’s fertility struggles played a role in her weight loss, she told Sunrise in October 2021, explaining, "I was going through a fertility journey and it was better if I was healthy. And I’ve wanted to be healthier anyway. I’ve struggled a lot with emotional eating and last year, through the huge transformation, lost about 35 kilos, I think."

The interview came nearly one year after the actress opened up about freezing her eggs. "[I knew that I] wasn’t gonna maybe work that much this year [amid the coronavirus pandemic],” Wilson wrote via Instagram in December 2020. “I knew I was going to have a bit more time. I was also freezing my eggs because — as all good, career women out there should note — that if that’s something that interests you, it’s a pretty good time to do it. I was thinking about fertility and having good quality eggs in the bank, so I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to do this. I’m going to get healthy.’”

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Jeannie Mai

The Real cohost revealed in an October 2021 YouTube video that she started her IVF shots the day of her wedding five months prior. But one week after the nuptials, the pair conceived naturally. “The doctor is like, 'Stop taking your shots. You're pregnant. You guys got pregnant on your own,’” Mai recalled.

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Jordan Pruitt

One year after welcoming her baby girl, the Voice alum suffered a pregnancy loss. "I’ve spent this past week miscarrying,” the “Jump to the Rhythm” singer told her Instagram followers in September 2021. "Absolute torture for any woman. I’m sad and heartbroken and still processing. ... It most definitely wasn’t expected, but I have to trust that God has a plan."

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Erin Andrews

The sportscaster decided to share her seventh round of IVF publicly in August 2021, writing in a Bulletin essay: "Why am I keeping this such a secret when this is just a part of our lives? Instead of feeling ashamed, we need to give ourselves more love. It freaking sucks, because it can seem like it's such a lonely thing. There are so many of us going through this though, and it's just not talked about.”

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Erin Bates

The Bringing Up Bates star was “pinching” herself over her August 2021 pregnancy, six months after exclusively telling Us that conceiving baby No. 5 would be a “miracle” due to recent health issues. “They ended up taking out one of my ovaries. And then the last surgery, they removed most of my second ovary,” Bates said of her fertility struggles in February. “To ever get pregnant again would be, like, a huge miracle because I basically have one third of an ovary left, but it's very scarred from surgeries."

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Amanda Knox

"I thought I knew exactly what I want to do with my first pregnancy and [to] have it not come to fruition, not through choice, felt like a betrayal,” the criminal justice activist said of her "recent" miscarriage in a July 2021 “Labyrinth” podcast episode. "Do I have bad eggs am I too old? Did something happen to me while I was in [prison in] Italy?"

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Odette Annable

The House alum revealed in an emotional June 2021 Instagram post that she suffered her third miscarriage following the birth of daughter Charlie in 2015. "I miss feeling this sweet baby grow but I also know that it was a gift carrying our baby and a privilege for even the short time we spent together," she wrote at the time, thanking husband Dave Annable for his constant support through their challenging loss.

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Ashley Slack

In May 2021, Jason Wahler's wife opened up about experiencing a molar pregnancy loss nearly one year prior. "I went in for my ultrasound. I remember hearing my doctor tell me I didn’t have a fetus, I had a molar pregnancy and I needed surgery within a few days to make sure it was not cancer," the hairstylist told her Instagram followers. "I felt so alone. I didn’t understand what this was and why I had to have surgery so quickly. First no baby, now maybe cancer?! My whole world came crashing down. ... It took months later and many doctor appointments until my HCG levels finally were zero. From that point on, we tried again and finally got pregnant with our son."

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Astrid Loch

The Bachelor in Paradise alum called her fertility struggles “the toughest thing” she’s ever experienced in her May 2021 pregnancy reveal. "I can’t wait to share more of how we got here,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. "But today is finally about some good news, and we hope you can enjoy it with us. #ivf #infertility."

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Kristen Welker

The NBC personality tried to get pregnant for three years before writing in an April 2021 letter to her baby-to-be: “We saw four different doctors and it didn’t seem like anything was working. Like many people going through the same thing, we felt very alone. Your daddy, [John Hughes], and I cried a lot during that time, but we never, ever gave up. Then, on a chilly weekday morning as I was walking into work, a doctor called with the most difficult news. The doctor said that, unlike most mommies, I would not be able to carry you in my belly and I would need a special helper to carry you inside her belly.” The journalist gushed about her “hero” surrogate while announcing her and Hughes' baby news on the Today show.

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Melinda Stolp

“I have had the opportunity to have three pregnancies. Luckily, one of those produced a beautiful, healthy baby,” the Challenge alum wrote via Instagram in March 2021 after suffering a pregnancy loss. “I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke, don’t do any drugs, I’m active, I took my vitamins, drank my water, talked to [my baby girl], had little stress, laughed a lot, took walks, cut out caffeine and still none of that worked. … None of this is fair."

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Sarah Herron

The former Bachelor contestant revealed in March 2021 that she’s been diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), meaning she will have a harder time conceiving naturally. “After 7 months of trying, but with no pregnancy, we turned to fertility testing. The results are consistent. My egg count and quality is low,” she wrote via Instagram. “But I know this is just information to know myself better — to know my relationships, priorities, and values, better. Whatever the outcome may be. This is not a reflection of my ability to mother and nurture, and it does not make me any less deserving of my partner.”

The season 17 alum noted she began taking Letrozole, which helps stimulate the ovaries to mature an egg. “I am open to options and I am optimistic. Although I’ve felt grief, I do not feel sorry for myself. I feel empowered and knowledgeable,” she added.

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Amber Smith

Granger Smith's pregnant wife reflected on her IVF journey in a March 2021 Instagram post, writing, "We started the path of IVF, shots, medicines, then shut down due to COVID, later excited to be pregnant after our first transfer, and then hurt and pain again with our miscarriage. With one more viable embryo, I got my body ready again for transfer. There were procedures, infection, antibiotics and all the things, to finally, almost 12 months later, be able to transfer our second and last little one. This one has stayed with us thus far and we are hoping, praying and trusting that we will welcome this little boy into the world in August."

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Tori Roloff

"We were so excited when we found out we were expecting baby No. 3, and we couldn't wait to share,” the Little People, Big World star captioned a March 2021 Instagram post. "We went in for our first ultrasound at eight weeks and found out that we lost our sweet baby two weeks earlier. I've honestly never felt loss like I did in that moment. I've never felt so sad, angry and scared in a single moment. I had no symptoms of losing [our] sweet angel baby and nothing could have prepared me for hearing our sweet baby was gone.” The TLC personality went on to call her husband, Zach Roloff, her “rock” during the loss.

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Elle King

While sharing her pregnancy news in March 2021, the singer opened up about her previous miscarriages. “This miracle baby comes after two very big losses,” Rob Schneider’s daughter wrote via Instagram. "It’s a terrifying and extremely painful experience for everyone. But the sun always rises, and I never really let go to let the universe decide when I was ready. I remember every pregnancy announcement felt like a dagger to me. … What women go through on this journey make us nothing less than WARRIORS. So thank you for your prayers and love for our high-risk pregnancy!”

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Erin Bates

In February 2021, the Bringing Up Bates star exclusively told Us that conceiving baby No. 5 would be a “huge miracle” after three surgeries left her with only one third of an ovary. “At this point, it's not in the question at all, which is sad because me and [my husband], Chad [Paine], always talked about having at least 10 children, but you never know what God has for the future,” the reality star said at the time.

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Mandy Moore

After visiting a fertility specialist, the This Is Us star had a uterine surgery scheduled in the summer of 2020. "It was nice to have a plan and to know, OK, well, thisis why I haven’t been pregnant yet," the actress told Romper in January 2021. Just ahead of the procedure, Moore found out she was expecting.

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Kristen Doute

“I’ve had really off cycles lately and it’s been making me really nervous because of my age,” the Vanderpump Rules alum said on her January 2021 Instagram Story. “Going in to [the gynecologist], we were not able to do the tests we were hoping for so it really stressed me out and kind of broke my f--king heart, but we did the best we could with what we could do. Good news on those fronts, and we’re just gonna keep track of what we need to keep track of and catch up again in a couple months.”

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Lauren Scruggs

Jason Kennedy revealed in January 2021 that his wife had started IVF, telling his Instagram followers: “Could have twins, could have more than twins. Could have one. Might not even have one.” Whatever the case, he and the Still LoLo author were “committed to believing” it would be “a good process."

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Michelle Branch

The "Are You Happy Now?" singer called her December 2020 miscarriage a “dagger … twist” to the heart after a bad year, writing via Instagram: "I'm limping to the finish line."

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Fantasia Barrino

The pregnant American Idol alum told Tamron Hall in December 2020 that she and her husband, Kendall Taylor, had spent three years trying to conceive baby No. 3. "I found out that one of my tubes was closed, we went back and then [the doctor] says, ‘Well, now that one’s open the other ones closed,’” Barrino said on the Tamron Hall Show. "We decided let’s just pause. Let’s let God be God. … I kid you not, I truly forgot about it."

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Catelynn Lowell

The Teen Mom OG star shared in December 2020 that she had suffered a miscarriage on Thanksgiving, three days after she learned she was expecting her fourth child with husband Tyler Baltierra. “I WAS Pregnant and excited to share it with all of you and I am heartbroken to reveal that I lost the baby,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “I am sharing this to let you know you are not alone. We are all in this together and everyone experiences pain, loss, and the recovery from it. [I’m] still in the thick of dealing with this loss as it was recent and all the emotional trauma that follows such a loss in an already horrifically hard year.”

The reality TV star previously suffered a miscarriage in 2017. Lowell checked into a treatment facility in November of that year after having suicidal thoughts following the loss. “It was very traumatic. [I saw] her shaking, and she’s got blood everywhere,” Baltierra said of the miscarriage on a 2018 episode of the MTV series. “We just sat on the bed and cried. We just held another. There’s nothing you can really do.” 

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Christina Perri

Following the “Jar of Hearts” singer’s January 2020 miscarriage at 11 weeks, she wrote via Instagram that she was “so sad, but not ashamed.” Perry explained, "I am ever reminded how amazing and powerful women are making life and at healing. To all the mothers who have been here and who will be here, I see you and I love you.”

The Pennsylvania native suffered another pregnancy loss in November of that same year while in her third trimester. “Last night we lost our baby girl,” Perri captioned an Instagram post at the time. "She was born silent after fighting so hard to make it to our world. She is at peace now and will live forever in our hearts.”

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Meghan Markle

The Suits alum opened up about her and Prince Harry’s miscarriage in a November 2020 op-ed for The New York Times, writing, “After changing [my son Archie’s] diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right. I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second."

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Lena Dunham

The Girls alum described her failed IVF journey to Harper's Magazine in November 2020, noting that she considered sperm donors and surrogacy as well. "Each step took the process further from my body, my family, my reality," Dunham wrote at the time. "Each move was more expensive, more desperate, more lonely. I stopped being able to picture the ending."

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Gabrielle Union

The Being Mary Jane star announced on Instagram in November 2018 that she and her husband, Dwyane Wade, welcomed a “miracle baby” into the world with the help of a surrogate. Union and the NBA player named their daughter Kaavia James Union Wade. The Bring It On actress spoke about her her infertility during a July 2018 appearance on Dr. Oz. “For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant,” she revealed. “I’ve either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle or coming out of an IVF cycle.”

In August 2020, the We’re Going to Need More Wine author told Katie Lowes that her adenomyosis affected her ovarian reserves, but "went undiagnosed through multiple rounds of IVF." "If you're going in and no one's diagnosing you correctly, a lot of places will offer older women or women who have these conditions that have been diagnosed rounds to basically bundle … so you might do ... three rounds for this price because you're not going to get a ton of eggs,” the L.A.’s Finest star explained. “But no one's super clear or honest because that affects your business.”

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Amy Schumer

The comedian opened up in January 2020 about her and husband Chris Fischer’s attempts to give their son, Gene, a sibling via IVF. “I’m a week in … and feeling really run down and emotional,” the Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo author wrote on Instagram at the time. “If anyone went through it and if you have any advice or wouldn’t mind sharing your experience with me please do. My [Community.com] number is in my bio. We are freezing my eggs and figuring out what to do.”

Seven months later, the comedian told Willie Geist that she and Fischer had considered surrogacy following a “really tough” round of IVF. "I don’t think I could do IVF again, so I decided that I can’t be pregnant ever again,” Schumer said in August 2020.

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Kristen Wiig

"You go through so much self-deprecation, and you feel like your partner may be seeing you in a different way and all this other stuff we make up in our heads,” the New York native told InStyle in August 2020 of her IVF experience, two months after welcoming her twins via surrogate. "But when I did talk about it, every time I said that I was going through IVF, I would meet someone who was either going through it, about to go through it, or had a friend who just did it. It’s like this underground community that’s talked about but not talked about.”

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Ali Fedotowsky

The former Bachelorette was in “complete shock”after her miscarriage, she revealed in a July 2020 Instagram post. “I am 1 in 4," the mommy blogger wrote. "I’m not sharing this because I feel sorry for myself or I want others to tell me they feel sorry for me. I don’t feel sorry for myself. I feel sad for what could’ve been. Sad for the baby that was growing inside me. Sad because it’s sad. I want to share this because I think it’s important.”

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Becca Tobin

Following her second miscarriage, the Glee alum and her husband, Zach Martin, saw a fertility specialist and froze their embryos. "There's no better feeling,” the actress said in a July 2020 “LadyGang” podcast episode. "I didn't realize the weight that would be lifted the moment that I found out that I didn't have to hurry up and keep trying and hopefully get something healthy."

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Jade Roper

When asked in July 2020 whether she’s experienced pregnancy losses while growing her family, the Bachelor in Paradise alum wrote on her Instagram Story: “Yes, I don’t talk about them publicly very much, probably because I still always cry even though a lot of time has passed, and it always catches me off guard that there’s still so much more under the surface. We lost a baby when we first got together, and then I also had a chemical pregnancy the month before I became pregnant with [our son], Brooks.”

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Scheana Shay

After doing two rounds of freezing her eggs, the Vanderpump Rules star and her boyfriend, Brock Davies, naturally conceived their first child together — but she miscarried at six weeks. "[It's] just devastating," Shay said on a June 2020 "Scheananigans" podcast episode. "We were so excited. Gone so quickly. It’s still been a lot to process.”

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Kimberly Van Der Beek

James Van Der Beek's wife opened up about her three miscarriages, “all around 10 weeks gestation,” in September 2018. She wrote on Instagram at the time: “I let them all happen naturally. I had a loving husband, a compassionate birthing team and I felt spiritually grounded about them. And even in the best of circumstances, they all broke my heart. I was devastated every single time. After one of them, I sat in the shower crying for almost five hours. Thankfully I am fully at peace with them all now and have five children.” 

In September 2019, the former business consultant announced that she and the Dawson’s Creek alum were expecting baby No. 6 — but she miscarried in November. “We’ve been through this before, but never this late in the pregnancy, and never accompanied by such a scary, horrific threat to @vanderkimberly and her well-being,” James wrote on social media following the pregnancy loss.

Nine months later, James announced that his wife had experienced another miscarriage. “Once again, 17 weeks in, the soul we’d been excited to welcome into the world had lessons for our family that did not include joining us in a living physical body,” he wrote via Instagram in June 2020. “We rushed [Kimberly] to the hospital by ambulance for another harrowing night of blood transfusions.”

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Chuck Wicks and Kasi Morstad

“We had to take the IVF route,” the country singer wrote alongside his wife's June 2020 baby bump debut. “We wanted to share our story with all of you because infertility is a real thing and can [a]ffect anyone for many different reasons. We are so thankful for the IVF process and our amazing doctors and nurses.”

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Melanie Martin

“We're gonna give it some time, let her heal and then we're going to try again,” Aaron Carter said in a June 2020 YouTube livestream after sharing his girlfriend’s miscarriage news. “We both want that. I gotta take care of her.”

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Jill Zarin and Steven Shapiro

“We were going to take it to our grave, nobody knew. We had no plan to tell [our daughter, Ally],” the Real Housewives of New York City alum told Heather McDonald in March 2020 of using a sperm donor to conceive. “This was many many years ago … and in those days it was very early on in this whole sperm donor business. At the time people said, ‘You just don’t say anything. Do the insemination and then have sex and pretend that’s how you got pregnant then.’ Because there was, like, a shame to it back then.”

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Lauren Burnham

The Bachelor alum and her husband, Arie Luyendyk Jr., experienced a “roller-coaster of emotions” after her missed miscarriage, which is when the body doesn’t recognize pregnancy loss or expel pregnancy tissue, so hormones continue to be released. “It’s something you can never really prepare for," she revealed in a May 2020 YouTube video.

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Romee Strijd

After missing her period for seven years and being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, the Victoria’s Secret model announced her pregnancy via Instagram. “I started to research natural healing for PCOS and came to the conclusion that I should do way less high-intensity training, don’t restrict foods, be nice to myself and take breaks when needed," Strijd wrote. "I also tried some natural supplements, acupuncture and we got a place back in the Netherlands as well, so we could spend more time with Family (since I’m such a family person). I’m so happy and grateful to say that I got my period back last November AND that WE’RE SOON A FAMILY OF THREE.”

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Hilarie Burton and Jeffrey Dean Morgan

“The false narrative that gets projected, especially by the celebrity angle is, ‘We went through this hard thing and it brought us closer together,’” the One Tree Hill alum told Us exclusively in May 2020 of suffering multiple miscarriages. “And so I felt like a total failure because that wasn’t happening for me. Until you go through that first really horrible thing together, you don’t know how your partner is going to react. You don’t know what they need.”

The Walking Dead star needed her to “be strong and calm,” Burton explained, while she wanted to “slam doors and cry really hard.”

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Lance Bass and Michael Turchin

The former ’NSync member told Us exclusively in March 2020 that he and the artist were trying IVF again after their last “heartbreaking” attempt. He explained, “Unfortunately, the last time did not work so we’ve reset and we’re about to go again. Hopefully in the next couple of months, we’ll have some good news. But again, it’s gonna take a while to see if anything sticks.”

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Abby Elliott

The Saturday Night Live alum told Kelly Clarkson in February 2020 that she was undergoing “hardcore” IVF treatments, adding “The hormones are very intense and so many people go through this and we don’t talk about it enough, I think, as women. We need to raise more understanding and awareness.” Elliott joked, “This Valentine’s Day, I’ll be getting shots in my butt by my husband, [Billy Kennedy]. Very romantic.”

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Domino Kirke

The singer "stopped trusting" her body after suffering multiple miscarriages and "started to accept the fact" that she and Penn Badgley weren't going to welcome a child. "Pregnancy after loss is a whole other thing," the DOMINO band member captioned her February 2020 pregnancy announcement. "It takes everything I’ve got to detach lovingly from the losses I’ve been present for and be in my own experience."

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Golnesa Gharachedaghi

"Summer of last year I was finally pregnant," the pregnant Shahs of Sunset star began a February 2020 Instagram post, adding that she soon faced “a series of unfortunate events.” She continued, “I’ll keep it short … but let's just say that the pregnancy was lost and I ended up in the ER undergoing emergency surgery to remove both of my fallopian tubes. After the healing process was complete, I went thru IVF again and got pregnant again!”

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Brittany Lutz

Kellan Lutz’s wife opened up about her journey to pregnancy, writing on Instagram in January 2020: “I got married at almost 31, long after I thought I would. I am pregnant now at 32 after countless negative tests, a lost pregnancy, and a surgery to fix problems in my uterus and create a hospitable environment to actually grow a child.”

Brittany suffered a miscarriage at 6 months in February 2020.

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Hilary Rhoda

The model and her husband, Sean Avery, were “healthy partners” but suffered multiple pregnancy losses while trying to conceive. “After a few miscarriages, the pressure starts mounting and fertility doctors say, ‘You have this window. Maximize that window, a 4 to 5 day window with no rest,’” the former professional ice hockey player said on a January 2020 episode of his “No F--ks Given” podcast. The couple tried for six months before conceiving. The experience was “tough,” Avery said, explaining, “A few times, we were fighting and we don’t fight.”

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Brie Bella

“We were trying for eight months, and I couldn’t get pregnant,” the former professional wrestler, 36, revealed of her and Daniel Bryan's family plans in her January/February 2019 Health cover story with twin sister Nikki Bella. “I was stressed, and it wasn’t happening. There were a couple times that I was so late and was sure I was pregnant. Then I would get my period and bleed really badly. I think the universe was telling me something, like, it’s not a great time to have another baby.”

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Beyoncé

After opening up about her fertility struggles in her 2013 documentary, Life Is But a Dream — calling the miscarriage she suffered before welcoming Blue Ivy the “saddest thing” she’d ever been through — the “Spirit” singer elaborated on the topic in a 2019 Elle interview. “I began to search for deeper meaning when life began to teach me lessons I didn’t know I needed,” she said. “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.”

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Liz Sandoz

The Bachelor alum opened up about her chemical pregnancy loss in December 2019 on the “Miraculous Mamas” podcast, explaining, “I feel at peace about it, but when I do talk about it I get really emotional because I’ve never been pregnant before. It was the couple weeks of the positive tests and the excitement and ordering things. I already had our nursery wallpaper picked out, you know? It is such a let down. And then I feel stupid for crying because it was a chemical pregnancy, it’s like nothing was ever really there, which I know is ridiculous.”

Her husband, Vito Presta, went on to say that they will keep trying to conceive. “Life’s gonna kick us down, life’s gonna kick everybody down, you just gotta get back up and fight back,” he said. “And this fighting back is to just keep having sex and I’m okay with that. I think that’s a good fight to take on.”

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Teresa Giudice

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star “tried to have a boy” using in vitro fertilization, she revealed in a November 2019 episode of the Bravo show. “They put three embryos in me,” the reality star said. “I didn’t even get pregnant.”

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Lindsie Chrisley

The Chrisley Knows Best alum revealed on a November 2019 episode of her “Coffee Convos” podcast with Kailyn Lowry that she miscarried a child after welcoming her son, Jackson, in 2012. Medium Monica Ten-Kate told Chrisley at the time: “The message here is even though you’ve gone through loss, that they don’t want you to feel like you have to rush. … They don’t want you to worry that you might have some sort of issue or something going on that makes me have to rush the timeline.”

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Lauren Sorrentino

Although she and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino conceived their first child “the night he came home” from prison, Lauren miscarried at “about six and a half, seven weeks,” she revealed during a November 2019 Strahan, Sara & Keke appearance. “It was hard,” the former blogger said at the time. “It was really difficult.” That being said, she wanted to share the tragedy so other women could relate and she could “heal through the process.”

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Hilaria Baldwin

After welcoming Carmen, Rafael, Leonardo and Romeo with her husband, Alec Baldwin, the fitness guru suffered two miscarriages in April and November 2019. “I didn’t know there were so many tears in the body,” the Living Clearly Method author wrote on her Instagram Story following her second pregnancy loss. “I’m trying to be present for my grief but understand that life goes on and there is still beauty, even in darkness.”

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Camille Guaty

“Although the road was long, I always believed I was going to be a mother,” the actress wrote on Instagram in November 2019. “As time passed and the battle became more difficult, it was just a matter of shifting my perspective. Today I am a mother of a beautiful baby boy. God had a plan that I could have never seen.”

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Teddi Mellencamp

“I don’t like when people can see me breaking down, so I hid it from everybody how hard it was every single time,” the reality star said of her IVF journey in an October 2019 episode of her “Teddi Tea Pod” podcast. “You just get really stuck inside of yourself. All I could keep thinking was, ‘What is wrong with me? Why does my body keep killing these babies. What is happening?’”

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Holly Durst

After two years of trying to conceive with Blake Julian, the Bachelor Pad season 2 winner was told she might have endometriosis. She decided to hire a surrogate following ovary surgery and unsuccessful rounds of in vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination. The couple’s surrogate got pregnant twice and lost both babies at 8 weeks, which led Durst and Julian to pursue adoption. They met their daughter Poppy’s birth mother over Instagram and welcomed the little one in September 2019.

“We’ll send pictures whenever her heart is ready for it because it’s got to be hard to see,” the Bachelor alum told Us exclusively of Poppy's birth mom the following month. “We text here and there. If she wants a picture, I’ll gladly send her pictures. We’re probably going to go up and visit her once a year.”

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Renee Morrison

“I just went through one of the most vulnerable, raw, massive, confusing, just phenomenal experiences that a woman could ever endure,” Matthew Morrison’s wife said in an October 2019 Instagram video. “I miscarried. I found out at four weeks and began the cycle of miscarriage on my sixth week. ... The point of today is to tell you how meditation helped guide me through this journey and this experience.”

The actress used the practice to "rise above conditioned thoughts" about whether she caused her pregnancy loss or would suffer another. "I'm just going to choose not to go there," she explained.

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Demi Moore

While the actress was dating Ashton Kutcher, she became pregnant with a daughter they planned to name Chaplin Ray, according to her Inside Out memoir published in September 2019. After she suffered a miscarriage six months into the pregnancy, Moore blamed herself because she had started drinking again. She and the actor went on to pursue fertility treatments before their 2011 split.

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Anne Hathaway

The Oscar winner noted in her July 2019 pregnancy announcement: “For everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies. Sending you extra love.” She and her husband, Adam Schulman, welcomed their son, Jonathan, in 2016.