Being parents is not easy and, many times, getting to be one either… Fertility problems include endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome or a low number of spermatozoa, to which is added the fear of being older parents in the future or the case of same-sex couples. Today there are medical advances that help achieve the dream of being parents. One of these ways is in vitro fertilization, to which more and more people are turning. And not just anonymous.
In vitro fertilization, known as IVF, is one of the most popular techniques today to give people with fertility problems that push to help them have a baby. The process is always the same: an egg is extracted from the woman’s ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilized egg, called an embryo, is returned to the uterus for growth and development. It can be done with your eggs and your partner’s sperm, or with eggs and sperm from donors.
In Spain there is no legal limit to access assisted reproduction treatments, so it is possible to find differences when setting a maximum age between the public and private systems. Social Security establishes a limit of 40 years, above which it does not offer assisted reproduction treatments. In addition, there is also a maximum of three cycles, both in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination. For its part, the Spanish Fertility Society strongly recommends a limit of 50 years to access treatments of this type.
Although IVF isn’t always successful—and it’s important to note that it can be both physically and emotionally demanding—more and more people are reporting their experience with fertility treatment, which is a boon for those who follow it. We wanted to bring together all the celebrities who have undergone IVF, who have talked about it and their fertility problems openly, because there is nothing to hide from.
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Jennifer Aniston
After years of needless and nosy speculation about whether or not she had any plans to become a mother, the ‘Friends’ actress opened up in an interview with Allure in 2022, in which she spoke about how hurtful the constant questions had been, especially since fertility treatment had been unsuccessful.
“I had IVF, I drank Chinese teas, I did whatever it took to make it. I tried everything,” she explained. “I would have given anything for someone to say to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.’ You just don’t think about it. So here I am now. My train has passed.”
Jennifer added that she is now relieved that not knowing what was going to happen is over. “I don’t regret anything, in fact I feel a bit of relief because there is no more, ‘Can I? ‘, or ‘maybe’. Maybe. Maybe.’ I don’t have to think about that anymore.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker
The Kravises have made no secret of their desire to have a baby together and in a recent episode of ‘The Kardashians’, Kourtney spoke about her experience with IVF:
“We’re super excited because it’s the first time we’ve gotten an egg retrieval in six months of fertility treatments,” she said. Kourtney described the moment as a “blessing,” adding that “the last two times we’ve tried, we just haven’t been able to get to this stage.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Courteney Cox and David Arquette
Courteney Cox recorded pregnant, with her ex-husband David Arquette, the last season of David Arquette’s ‘Friends’. Shortly after little Coco was born.
“In fact, I have opted for in vitro fertilization,” he freely confessed to ABC News. “It’s a wonderful thing and I’m lucky to be able to afford it. I think it’s great and I would do it again.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Khloe Kardashian
In another episode of ‘The Kardashians’, Khloé opened up about the process of going through IVF with her then partner Tristan Thompson, after having problems with their first pregnancy.
“I nearly miscarried early in True’s (her now four-year-old) pregnancy,” she told her sister Kim Kardashian. “All I’m trying to do is bring more love into my life and my family. But I just seem to run into a lot of obstacles and it’s all really hard to swallow.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Michelle and Barack Obama
Former first lady Michelle confessed in ‘Becoming’, her 2018 memoir, that she and her husband Barack had conceived their two daughters, Sasha and Malia, through IVF treatments.
He said that at the age of 34 he realized that the “biological clock is real” and that “the production of ovules is limited”, for which he made the decision to undergo this medical technique.
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Emma Thompson
The ‘Love Actually’ star and her partner, Greg Wise, opened up about their experience, which they described as “brutal”.
“We tried IVF several times after we had Gaia, our first daughter, and it didn’t work,” Greg told the magazine. Daily Mail Weekend Magazine. “IVF is very upsetting. It’s a brutal and very emotional process. It’s very hard. But then you wake up, look around you and see this incredibly beautiful little baby of yours and everything changes.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Tyra banks
The former supermodel gave birth to her first child after undergoing IVF treatment with her then-partner Erik Asla in 2016. Speaking on the subject, Tyra told People: “When I turned 40, the only thing that made me unhappy was not having children and I thought: ‘Damn, the clock is ticking.'”
And he went on to say: “I have experienced some not happy moments with it [la FIV], very traumatic moments. It’s hard”.
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
Although they initially kept the details of their fertility problems private, Chrissy and John opened up about their experience after being faced with the difficult questions about when they would have a child. “It’s a nice question and it’s asked with good intentions, but sometimes you never know what the person is going through,” she told AND! News. “What you really want to say is, ‘I’m trying and I can’t.'”
And he gave more details: “I wanted to talk about it for a long time but it did not seem right to tweet something like: ‘Ufff, they are giving me my IVF injections again'”.
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Amy Schumer
Before having her uterus removed for complications with endometriosis, the comedian and her husband underwent IVF in hopes of giving their firstborn a sibling.
“I’ve been on IVF for a week now and feel very discouraged, but excited at the same time. If anyone who has been through this has any advice and wouldn’t mind sharing their experience with me, please do,” she wrote in a post. from Instagram in 2020. “We are freezing my eggs and figuring out what to do to give Gene a brother.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Lena Dunham
The protagonist of the series ‘Girls’ told Harper’s Bazaar who, after undergoing in vitro fertilization, unfortunately could not recover viable eggs. “I found out that none were serving on Memorial Day, in the middle of a global pandemic,” she wrote.
Later, in statements to Peoplecommented: “IVF destroyed my body, as a woman prone to endometriosis, filling it with estrogen… Everything she’s been through, excruciating pain, anxiety and depression to get to the end and know that those eggs couldn’t fertilize. It is simply something that I will never repeat.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness
Before adopting their two children, Hugh and Deborra-Lee opted for IVF twice in the hope of having a biological one. Unfortunately both attempts ended in abortion.
“While you go through IVF and you get pregnant, every day the feeling is something like: ‘We keep holding on! We keep holding on…!'” the star of movies like ‘Wolverine’ told good housekeeping. “You know how ‘fragile’ it is and how much it’s taken to get there. So miscarriage is such a disappointment. It’s really hard.”
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Celebrities who underwent IVF
Celine Dion
After undergoing six IVF treatments, Celine finally gave birth to twin boys in 2010. Before that, she opened up about her experience with Oprah: “We didn’t want to feel like we were playing yo-yo. I’m pregnant. I’m not pregnant. I’m pregnant. I’m not pregnant.”
And he continued counting: “We did not want to undergo treatment. But yes, we had a miscarriage. We tried to have a child four times. We are on the fifth attempt. Five is my lucky number, so this time has to be the definitive”.
Jade Biggs
Jade Biggs (she/her) is Cosmopolitan UK’s Features Writer, covering everything from breaking news and latest royal gossip, to the health and fitness trends taking over your TikTok feed.
jennifer savin
FeaturesEditor
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK’s multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women.