Moms are opening up about their struggles with infertility after Today correspondent Dylan Dreyer and Food Network star Katie Lee both spoke out about the topic this week.
On Monday, Dreyer revealed she had suffered a miscarriage over the winter while pregnant with her and husband Brian Fichera‘s second child, following a struggle with trying to conceive for six months before being referred to a specialist.
Dreyer shared that she got pregnant with her son Calvin Bradley, now 2, after the couple tried to conceive only one or two times.
But with her second attempt, she was dealing with irregular menstrual cycles, and when she went to get things checked out, a blood test showed she had a low egg count — one similar to what doctors would expect from someone around age 45 as opposed to her age, 37.
Dreyer admitted she “didn’t know secondary infertility was a thing” until her experience, and that the couple are looking at in vitro fertilization for their next steps.
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Dylan Dreyer Reveals Miscarriage, Secondary Infertility as Jenna Bush Hager Announces Pregnancy
Then, Lee spoke out on Instagram on Wednesday, saying that she gets “multiple messages a day” asking her if she’s pregnant and explained that she and husband Ryan Biegel are having trouble conceiving.
Lee, 37, and Biegel began IVF, but the process didn’t work for them.
“Not only is IVF physically exhausting, the emotional toll is unparalleled. We were filled with hope and excitement only to be crushed,” she wrote.
Lee continued: “It is really hard to put on a happy face. Fertility issues are supposed to be private so many of us are silently in pain. I hesitated to share this but I feel comfort when I hear others’ stories and I hope any of you in a similar situation know you are not alone.”
To show support for Dreyer and Lee, women began opening up about their own infertility issues on social media.
“Secondary infertility is so common, but people don’t realize it,” one user responded to Dreyer’s tweet. “After my daughter was born, I had 3 miscarriages, & ended up adopting 2 wonderful boys at birth, who are now 26 & 29 years old.”
Another user shared a photo of her daughter in response to Dreyer, writing, “Thanks for sharing your family’s story. I can relate to your story. After 3 pregnancies and babies with my late husband I suffered secondary infertility when remarried. This is my rainbow baby, now 17 and worth all the pain! Praying for endurance for your journey.”
“Thank u for sharing! I was in tears this morning as I too suffered from secondary infertility,” a third mom wrote. “I related 100%! The guilt- it’s real. After 8mos of trying for our 2nd we had a beautiful baby boy. A lot of ppl suffer in silence. Thank you for your story!”
Under Dreyer’s Instagram post, one mom wrote, “Thank you for bringing such a hard topic to light. I lost 3 babies in 2018 after having no issues with my firstborn. I am so thankful for Davis and a trillion times more thankful for Jesus who promises I will see my 3 babies one day. This road is so hard — thank you for being open and helping others.”
“It happened to me too,” another woman commented. “We finally got pregnant 5 years after our first and we lost our little girl in the second trimester. That was 2015. In July of 2018, we finally brought our son a sibling home from China. It’s been a long, hard road.”
Another wrote simply, “It helps to hear I am not alone in this struggle with secondary infertility.”
Katie Lee Speaks Out About Her Infertility Struggles After Being Asked When She Will Get Pregnant
On Lee’s Instagram post explaining her infertility struggles, one user penned: “I read this 20 times, sitting here in tears understating your pain and hurt. This post strikes so deep for me in EVERY SINGLE WAY and so much of it for women I know… So many of us suffer silently, like you have. Praying you never lose faith and always find happiness.”
Another chimed in, “It will happen for you. I struggled with infertility for 4 years, then a miscarriage. I now have 2 healthy boys. Thanks for sharing. Hang in there!”
“Believe me when I say that I understand,” another mom wrote. “My husband and I tried surgeries and fertility treatments for 4 years only to lose a baby boy at 20 weeks. We did IVF to get our twins. It was an almost 6 year struggle that was extremely hard on our marriage. No one knows the struggle unless you’ve been through it.”
“Prayers for you,” the user continued. “I always said that I would be a mother no matter what. I just didn’t know what process it would take. You will be as well.”
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