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Inspired by Jaguar and her depressing Baby-Story marathon. There are real-life examples of women just like us who are struggling to conceive. Let's share so that we can find some comfort in their public stories.
Here's my list of women who have publicly talked about conception issues and/or characters in novels/movies:
1) Giuliana Rancic - This woman is AMAZING! She is so open about her fertility struggles. She went through 2 IVFs unsuccssfully and then at a mammogram in preparation for the 3rd, they found bi-lateral breast cancer which she has also talked about. Watch her show or read about her. You will laugh and cry.
2) Elizabeth Banks - Then go buy this month's Lucky magazine or check it out online. Elizabeth Banks just had a baby through a surrogate with her egg, her husband's sperm. She says she had a "womb" issue. Since that's where my issue probably lies, her story really spoke to and comforted me.
3) Celia Foote (character in The Help) - In the book Celia had something like 7 or 8 recurrent miscarriages. In the movie they edited it to 4. But there is a gut-wrenching scene where she is bleeding on the bathroom floor. Very sad. Very real.
Those are the 3 that come to mind immediately. Please add more that you know about.
David and Courtney Cox-Arquette: They went through several miscarriages due to immunity problems. They also went through IVF before they had their daughter Coco.
Helena Bonham Carter (LOVE her) and Tim Burton: They tried Clomid and IVF along with some alternative medical treatments before their baby was eventually conceived naturally.
Jane Seymour: She had multiple miscarriages and infertility treatments before having her twins. She's also written a book about it.
Audrey Hepburn suffered multiple miscarriages.
Brooke Shields and her husband went through more than one IVF cycle, their first resulted in a miscarriage. They did eventually conceive through the process but she's spoken out quite a bit about it, I believe that she has written a book as well.
I think Celine Dion had fertility issues.....her husband had the problems. They went through several rounds of IVF to have her first son, then froze the embryos and got pregnant, miscarried, and then had her twins.
@Running Elley: Brooke did write a book, I believe called "Down Came the Rain" about her struggles and her post-partum depression. I've always wanted to read it.
I can't think of any new ones, but I remember reading The Help and it tore at my heart reading about Celia for some reason.
Guiliana is so wonderful. I love reading about her. I so hope they are able to have a baby after she is well again. She is a great example for women everywhere of stregnth, being proactive towards health, faith and determination.
Khloe Kardashian has said in interviews and on her shows that she's having trouble (sorry to all the K haters :P) but I haven't read anything about her trying IVF... I know some people don't like her but I sort of feel for her because she is going through this very publicly AND having to see gossip magazines saying she's pregnant when she's not.
@Moja Milosc: I like her better than the other girls anyway : ) I've heard she's been trying with no success for awhile.
I also love reading about Guiliana as well. I think that not only is she such an incredibly strong woman, but Bill is an amazing husband as well. They truly love each other and it makes me so glad that they found each other. It's hard enough to have to go through infertility treatments, but to go through them publicly is even harder. I really admire the two of them.
Don't know if there are many how I met your mother fans but they had an episode about robin thinking she waspregnant by barset and then being told she had some issue that would make itimplausible to conceive. I actually really liked the episode since it dealt with how someone who didn't necessarily want kids felt about being told she couldn't
@Moja Milosc: I feel especially bad for Klhoe because her sister just seems to blink and get pregnant.
Meri Brown from the reality show "Sister Wives" has a teenage daughter and had a miscarriage a few years ago, and those are the only pregnancies she has had despite trying for more children. The most recent season finale ended with her sister wife, Robyn, offering to be a surrogate for her.
Hugh Jackman and his wife
Rosie Pope from "Pregnant in Heals"
Padma Lakshmi from "Top Chef"
Jillian Michaels from "The Biggest Loser"
A chunk of the wives of Henry VIII
Kate Gosselin
Charlottes from SATC
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise/Keith Urban
Supreme Court Justice Roberts and his wife
J.Lo and Marc Anthony
I really felt for Charlotte in SATC. Felt like she REALLY truiy just wanted to be a mother. It's like she wanted this more than anything in her whole life. Since maybe even SHE was a kid. And I felt for her because she would/did make a great mom. (At least in the show!) And she was being deprived of motherhood. The worst was when she went to someone's baby shower and that lady 'stole' the baby name that Charlotte wanted for her kid that she would have had one day. 
@Mrs Green Grass: Haha...yes of course Henry VIII's wives : )
Something tells me the trouble was with HIM and not the women. They just did not have the technology to prove that back then. 
LOVE this thread.
Didn't Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon have problems too. I'm pretty sure she had a MC before the twins.
@Sasha2011: I totally agree it wasn't necessarily the women--but, HRH sure thought it was.
Wow, Jillian Michaels? I didn't know about that. This might be off topic, but is she married? Gay? Straight? I never really figured that out when I used to watch TBL.
@Juliepants: I don't remember seeing her on this list. She's recently adopted and that's all I know.
Edit: Just saw her; didn't know she had endometriosis either.
@MissGreen: Oh, I didn't know that! I just saw her name on @JewishBride: 's post. I'll google it. :)
Just want to throw out Brooke Shields " Down Came the Rain" book for those tryin to concieve and for moms to be.
I read it for a final project/research paper for an Abnormal Psych class. I really thought the book was amazing. So honest and heartbreakign at times.
I have cried when Rosie Pope had an eptopic pregnancy and they had to end it. It was so sad. Especially in her line of work where she is dealing with pregnant people all day every day.
I'm watching the Diane Sawyer interview with Gabby Giffords--add her to the list.
@Juliepants: She's never really commented on it other than to hint that she has had lady friends.
@Juliepants: She has pcos and she plans to adopt. I don't know her orientation, but I'm super curious!
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick--conceived their first child naturally, but had a ton of fertility problems after that and ended up using a surrogate for their twins.
Angela Bassett and her husband tried for seven years before using a surrogate.
Jane Seymour and her fourth husband miscarried twice after undergoing IVF before succeeding the third time.
Emma Thompson and her partner tried for years before undergoing IVF (and later adopting).
Sherri Shepherd and her husband tried for 2 years to get pregnant before having IVF--she got pregnant with twins, but lost one of them in utero.
Barbara Walters had three miscarriages before being told she couldn't bear any children (this was pre-IVF) so she and her husband adopted.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest adopted after struggling to conceive.
Tom Arnold and ex-wife, Shelby struggled with infertility since 2002 until their divorce in 2007. To compensate for Tom's low sperm count and poor motility, they have tried IVF with ICSI 5 times with no success.
Penn Jillette and his wife conceived via IVF.
Sharon Stone reportedly suffers from recurrent early miscarriages and adopted her second child.
Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") is currently undergoing fertility treatment and has been TTC for eight years.
Unconfirmed rumor: Jennifer Lopez conceived her twins via IVF after trying for 3 years.
Unconfirmed rumor: Halle Berry underwent IVF to have her daughter. She said she saved 35 previous negative pregnancy tests before she got a positive.
Unconfirmed rumor: Julia Roberts and her husband used IVF to conceive their twins.
I don't think anyone has mentioned this one unless I missed it, but it's a really important couple in my own life:
Monica & Chandler Bing - Tried for years to have a baby only to discover Monica's uterus was a hostile environment and Chandler's boys had low mobility. They finally adopted twins. :)
@Mrs Green Grass: I cried while reading 'The Help' - Celia was such a sweet/naive/awesome character, that it broke my heart every time.
@ThingsThatShine: Love Sister Wives! I can't really stand Robyn, but I thought it was so sweet of her to offer to be a surrogate for Meri. How hard it must be for her watching her Sister Wives get knocked up at the drop of a hat, and her not being able to conceive again. So sad/thoughtful.
Thanks everyone. It's nice to see the outcomes at the end - whether they end up conceiving, adopting, etc etc.
Lily Allen had at least one miscarriage and a stillborn baby before giving birth recently to a daughter.
Molly Ringwald suffered from uterine fibroids and other things and used assisted treatments for her twins.
Cindy Margolis wrote a book about it.
Robin on HIMYM
Lilly and Marshall on HIMYM took a while to concieve.
This list makes me sad/happy. I think we need a new emotion that describes what I mean.
@Carnival_Bride: @Mrs Green Grass: @Mrs Green Grass: I actually read somewhere that there is a possibility that it was an RH factor with Henry VIII and his wife (Catherine? Anne? Not sure which). They think that he was rh+ and she was rh-, which would explain why she was able to have her first child with him, but then unable to carry another baby to term. There's a shot that you can get now if you have this issue with your husband, but it was clearly not diagnosed back then. Of course, it is all speculation since no tests were even available then, but it's pretty interesting to think about!
@Mrs Green Grass: For me, it puts it out there to educate people that infertility and troubles do exist and it's not as rare as one may think. DH family has never had to deal with this and had trouble understanding some of our choices. Now with adoption it allows me to show them many people are adopted/adopt and it isn't a shameful situation and shouldn't be. When you tell someone President Clinton was adopted they lose the stigma that all adopted children are troubled and succeed. I guess that's what I get for marrying into such a closed minded family. I can't stand celebrities but they do put things out there for people to be aware of and know.
I really hope that Guiliana gets pregnant on her next IVF treatment, she has been through so much and I bet she would make an excellent mom. I like her reality show, it seems like her and Bill are truly in love. It's refreshing. I also feel bad for Khloe, I hope things work out for her too. I actually think Khloe is the only Khardashian that doesn't annoy me. She seems to have mellowed since she married Lamar.
Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") is currently undergoing fertility treatment and has been TTC for eight years.
WOW.
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