Anne with her husband, Adam Shulman,
ndson,Jonathan,inNewYork.GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES,
MAGAZINE
FEATURES,
(@ANNEHATHAWAY,
@CELINEDION,
@REALLYMARCIA,
@JANESEYMOUR)
The Hustle star knows only too well
howseeing a picture of a pregnant
woman can feel like a punch in the gut- asif she’s flaunting a condition that’s
anelusive dream to many. That’s the last
thing she wanted to do, Anne says.
Hundreds of women responded to her
post, saying they had fertility problems
tooand thanking her for her honesty.
“I’ve just gone through my third failed
VF[in vitro fertilisation] cycle and it’s just
suchan emotional and physical roller
coaster of an experience,” one said. “But
seeing well-known people like yourself
talkabout your struggles openly helps to
make those battling infertility less alone.”
Despite IVF being increasingly com-
monplace, especially with more and more
woman leaving it later in life to start fam-
AA
aah w – a t p t
IV
s c s t m m w‘I thinkit’stheworstthingwe
do to one another as women, not
sharing the truth about our
bodies and how they work’
TheformerUSfirstladyhas
become a powerful voice in
the new generation of parents
opening up about their struggles
with infertility.
Michelle (55) spoke about her
own battle in her 2018 memoir,
Becoming, revealing how a mis-
carriage in her twenties left her
and husband Barack (now 58)
feeling broken and that they’d
failed.
By the time she hit her mid-
thirties, the former lawyer real-ised “the biological clock is real”
and “egg production is limited”.
She sought IVF treatment and
began giving herself hormone
shots. While her “sweet, atten-
tive husband” worked at the
state legislature, she was left
“largely on my own to mani-
pulate my reproductive system
into peak efficiency”.
It worked – both her daughters
were conceived via IVF and the
Obamas are happy parents to
Malia (21) and Sasha (18).Fanshavelaudedthemodel-
turned-TV presenter for her
honesty when it comes to her
experiences with IVF, which
resulted in daughter Luna (3)
and son Miles (15 months).
When a fan asked her on
Instagram if she’d used the
treatment to conceive her son,
Chrissy replied, “Yep, he was
just on ice a smidge longer- science and the human body
arebeautiful.”
Another follower remarked
they found the question of-
fensive and inappropriate.
Chrissy (33) then responded
by saying she has no qualms
about discussing how she and
her husband, singer John
Legend (40), had conceived
their children.
“I wasn’t offended – people
are just curious and I think
hearing success stories gives
peoplehope.”ROCKY ROAD TOMOTHERHOOD
ilies, thetreatmentstillcarriesa certain
stigma. It isn’t widely discussed, often be-
cause women feel they’re a failure if they
can’t conceive naturally.
“Infertility. Geriatric pregnancy. Spon-
taneous abortion. Incompetent cervix.
These are phrases that those struggling
to conceive often hear from their doctors- clinical, isolating, demoralising terms,”
a blogger writes on Refinery29.
“They don’t show the grief of losing a
pregnancy, the stigma of being 30-some-
thing without kids – or the fact that be-
ing diagnosed with infertility doesn’t
mean the end of becoming a parent.”
But with celebrities such as Anne speak-
ing out about their own complicated
journeys, hopefully the stigma will begin
to fade. She’s not the only one.
‘I’m all for talking about IVF’
(Turn over) you.co.za 22 AUGUST 2019 | (^19)
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