The Real Housewives of New York City star Erika Hammond is sharing an update on her and husband Ankur Jain’s journey to parenthood.
“We obviously matched, we were so excited that night,” Erika, 35, said during a recent episode of the RHONY After Show, recalling when the couple found a surrogate. “We, in the next few months, had done an implantation, transfer, and after six weeks found out it wasn’t viable. It’s been tough because, you know, essentially, it was a miscarriage.”
The reality star then shared insight into her relationship with her surrogate and how they’ve coped with the loss.
“Obviously, Ankur and I are very sad, but it’s different because I’m not physically going through it,” she explained. “And I was feeling for her, because I’m like, ‘You’ve been through six weeks, every day, of doing these shots and then now having to go through a miscarriage.’ Like, I kept being like, ‘How are you doing? What can I do for you?’ And she’s feeling bad, because she’s like, ‘I’m so sad for you and Ankur, what can I do?’ And you know, it’s a very special relationship to have that and be there and … she’s an amazing surrogate.”
Erika said she and Ankur, 36, plan on starting the process again with their surrogate.
“We’re waiting to do another transfer,” she said. “I am currently doing another round of egg freezing — or embryo freezing — right now. Tomorrow I’m doing my procedure, so I’m bloated and a little moody, which maybe is why I’m a little catty today. We’re very excited about doing the transfer.”
She continued, “We’ve had some ups and downs, but I think for us, we’re very optimistic. That embryo, that time wasn’t meant to be. This next one’s going to be it and we’ve got to keep trying.”
Erika and Ankur, who tied the knot in April 2024, decided to explore surrogacy after an MRI revealed Erika had five “growths on her liver.”
“They grow with estrogen. So when we found this out, they had told us that I would [have] a high-risk pregnancy, and the risk would be that they would grow and rupture, and I would bleed out,” the internet personality explained during the after show. “And so it was advised that I should have a surrogate.”
She added, “And obviously, that’s not something that I had ever thought of before or thought that I would need, but that was our path, and that was meant to be our path, and we’re on it now.”
New episodes of RHONY air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
