In her upcoming book We’re Going To Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True, actress Gabrielle Union opened up about her attempts to conceive, revealing that she’d had “eight or nine miscarriages.”
According to the CDC, 12.3 percent of women between 15 and 44 will face “impaired ability to get pregnant or carry a baby to term.” And, 11.3 percent have sought fertility services.
Other celebrities have shared their experiences too. From Beyoncé to Remy Ma, here are celebrities who have opened up about their fertility struggles.
The supermodel and mogul, who is now mom to a little baby boy, revealed that when she turned 40 she began to think more about having children and began to undergo in vitro fertilization. Speaking with People about her IVF treatments, Banks said, “I’ve had some not happy moments with that, very traumatic moments. It’s difficult as you get older. It’s not something that can just happen.”
Both of the stars have been open about struggling to conceive. Legend told Mr. Porter, “You know, sometimes it’s just harder for some people than for others.” Teigen opened up to E! News about the couple’s issues and well-meaning fans who’d often ask when the two would have children, saying, “It’s a sweet question. It comes from a good place but sometimes you never know what the person is going through. You’re like, ‘I’m trying.’ What I really want to say is, ‘I’m trying and I can’t.'” The couple welcomed a daughter in 2016, Luna Simone Stephens.
In an interview with Black Enterprise, Braxton opened up about getting multiple nose surgeries after being born without cartilage in her nose, a condtion she says her father was born with as well. Braxton went on to added, “I believe in plastic surgery or anything you have to do to make yourself feel good. I’m all about self-esteem.”
Remy Ma shared a video earlier this year recounting her miscarriage, which fans later saw on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop, “I promised my husband that I would give him the child that he’s been asking me for since almost the day he met me and I can’t do that any more.” The rapper said she’d continue to try to conceive through other methods.
Another pair of adorable Hollywood twins, if Monroe and Moroccan develop their mother’s expensive taste, they’ll at least have the cash to fund it. Mariah Carey is worth an estimated $520 million, while dad Nick Cannon’s net worth comes in at $50 million.
In 2013, Fields announced on The Real that she was expecting her second child with husband Christoper Morgan. The happy news came after Fields revealed that she and her husband had been struggling to conceive for years.
Beyoncé announced back in February that she and husband Jay Z are expecting twins. Since her announcement, rumors have swirled that this pregnancy has been tough for the singer. However, in a 2013 documentary, Life Is But a Dream, Bey opened up about suffereing a miscarriage before finally getting pregnant with daughter Blue Ivy. She revealed, “About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time and I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life. I flew back to New York to get my check up — and no heartbeat. Literally, the week before I went to the doctor, everything was fine, but there was no heartbeat.”
The actress and her hubby Cory Hardrict have a son, Cree, but are open to expanding their family. Mowry has been open about her struggle to get pregnant due to her endometriosis. She told People, “Endometriosis basically grows from inflammation. We’re trying, but I don’t want to put too much hope into it. I don’t want to be let down.”
Love opened up on The Real about suffering a miscarriage in her 20s, telling the audience and other hosts that initially she had a hard time wrapping her head around the pregnancy, but she soon came around. Eight weeks into the pregnancy she miscarried. “I just never wanted that feeling again, because I was already afraid,” she told People of her decision to never have children. “I had so much love for that baby. That’s why I don’t take it lightly. After that, I made sure I would never get pregnant again, because I didn’t want to go through that. I felt like it was a person I was letting down.”
Tyler graduated from Darmouth, where she was a member of The Tabard, a co-ed fraternity. She also co-founded and sang in the a cappella group, Dartmouth Rockapellas, an all-female group of singers spreading social awareness through music.
The supermodel opened up about trying IVF before getting pregnant with daughter Alexandria ‘Lexi’ Zahra Jones, her child with late musician David Bowie, telling PARADE, “People talk about the miracle of birth. No. There’s the miracle of conception. I did IVF, but nothing happened. So I began to think of adoption and then I got pregnant. It was definitely a miracle.”
The couple appeared on Oprah back in 2007, discussing their marriage and their fraternal twins, Bronwyn Golden and Slater Josiah. The two revealed that after years of fertility treatments, including IVF, they decided to conceive via surrogate. “I was devastated when it didn’t happen [again and again]. I had to remain hopeful and resilient and, ‘Okay, let’s do it again,’ Bassett said. Eventually, the couple turned to surrogacy, welcoming the twins in 2006.
Union opened up about her struggles to conceive in her upcoming book We’re Going To Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True. In an excerpt shared with PEOPLE, the actress revealed, “I have had eight or nine miscarriages. For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant — 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.”
