Celebrity Infertility Secrets?

This blog post comes to us from the kind folks over at  Global IVF

Does She or Doesn’t She? (Only her fertility specialist know for sure)


When we look at celebrities like Elton John, Ricky Martin, or Neill Patrick Harris who have had children over the years it’s a no- brainer that they used an egg donor to create their families. But when we hear about female celebrities around the globe who have had children in their 40’s, we wonder – “Did she or didn’t she?” Society perceives that if you look young, your eggs are young.  However, the reality is when you are in your mid-forties and early fifties, your eggs aren’t going to work even though your body may very well carry a pregnancy to term and you may look great doing so. So why all the secrecy surrounding celebrities who may or may not have used egg donation or IVF treatment in general.  Is it ego?  Is it shame?  Is it because infertility treatment equates to being older which equates to being less marketable as far as Hollywood, Bollywood or the rest of the entertainment world is concerned?

Is IVF and egg donation the global entertainment world’s dirty little secret?  Now, we’re not saying that any of the following women used IVF or egg donor to have their children… in fact, most have not admitted reproductive help of any kind (although some did admit to at least IVF help – particularly the ones who used gestational carriers).  But take a look at the following list and draw your own conclusions:

•  Geena Davis, an American actress, had her twins at 48.
•  Jane Seymour, an English actress, had her twins at age 44.
• Nicole Kidman, an Australian actress, was 43 when she had her daughter with the help of a gestational surrogate.
• Cherie Blair, wife of England’s former Prime Minister gave birth at age 45.
• Susan Sarandon, an American actress, had a baby at age 46.
• Somali-born model Iman, married to rocker David Bowie, gave birth at 44.
• Helen Fielding, an English novelist/screenwriter best known for her character Bridget Jones, gave birth at 48.
• Arlene Phillips, an English choreographer, gave birth at age 47.
• Holly Hunter, an American actress, had her twins at 47.
• Cheryl Tiegs, a global icon in the world of modeling, had twins at age 52.
• Marcia Gay Harden, an American actress, was age 45 when she gave birth to her twins.
• Helena Bonham Carter, an English actress, had her baby at age 42.
• Joan Lunden, an American television personality, went on to have two sets of twins at age 52 and 54 with the help of a gestational surrogate.
• Elizabeth Edwards, the former wife of American presidential hopeful John Edwards, gave birth to her daughter at age 48 and her son at age 50.
• Kelly Preston, an American actress and wife of John Travolta,  gave birth to a son at age 47
• Halle Berry, an American actress, is currently pregnant and 46.
• Mira Sorvino, an American actress, gave birth to her last child when she was 44.
• Mariah Carey, musical superstar, gave birth to twins at age 42.
• Beverly D’Angelo, an American actress, was 49 when her twins were born.
• Sarah Jessica Parker, an American actress, had twins with the help of a gestational surrogate at age 44.
• Nancy Grace, an American television personality, was 47 when she brought her twins into the world.
• Farah Khan, a well known-prestigious Indian film director, gave birth to triplets at age 43.

Farah is one who admitted using IVF, she was quoted as saying: “When the choice is to either go childless or IVF, there is no room for doubts. I was 43 when I had my kids and my biological clock had stopped ticking long time ago.” However, she left the egg donation part out.  So did she?  Or didn’t she? Do you see a trend here? IVF equals shame for many women and that in itself is incredibly unfortunate. Pregnancy for most women is a rite of passage.  It’s something that we typically don’t think about until the time comes when we want to be pregnant and then it’s a really big deal.  It becomes an even bigger deal when you discover that you might be one of the many individuals in the world who might not ever conceive or give birth in your own lifetime – or if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who does it’s going to be after seeking a lot of help and spending a lot of money.
Relates story: Expiration Date Concerning Childbearing

When our bodies aren’t cooperating and doing something that we believed our whole lives we could or would do, it’s simply devastating.
The whole topic of infertility, IVF, egg donation – it’s just so socially taboo. It’s no wonder that regardless of who you are – public figure, celebrity, or the woman next door, it’s not the most favorite topic to talk about at a cocktail or dinner party. We don’t view infertility like we do breast cancer.  Infertility is still in that shameful place that breast cancer was many years ago until public women like Betty Ford brought it out into the forefront and made those of us afflicted with breast cancer into survivors and heroes – as well we should be. Until we change the mindset about infertility and embrace it like we do breast cancer, it’s always going to be that thing that no one wants to talk about. Now, celebrities may be different than the rest of us.  They may have more money.  They might be prettier, more privileged but guess what – they aren’t more fertile.  That’s a myth that has been perpetuated over the years because no one is talking about it. This means that regardless of how famous you might be, the most common cause of infertility in a woman who is in her middle forties is her age. And for a myriad of reasons, many women – not just celebrities wait too long to begin their family building – and after a certain point there’s not a thing you can do to make more eggs because our eggs have an expiration date. The reality is regardless of where you are in the world, AMH and FSH levels don’t lie.  By the time a woman is in her mid-forties, her fertility rate and percentage of success to conceive naturally is just about zero. Okay, okay we hear you – not every pregnant women who’s in her forties has undergone any sort of fertility.  However, be mindful they are the exception to the rule – like one in a million – for the rest of us in the world our reality is very different. Dr. Ric Porter, Director of IVF Australia was quoted as saying: “A pregnant actress in her forties gets a page in a magazine, but if those same magazines printed all the stories of all the women who couldn’t get pregnant, the magazines would be the size of the yellow pages. These celebrity ‘miracle pregnancies’ give women ridiculous expectations. I’m yet to see a patient who had viable eggs in her mid-forties. Even with IVF, we’ve never had a pregnancy after age 45.” It is what reproductive endocrinologists all over the world face every day on the front lines – explaining to women who are in their mid-forties the realities about their fertility, and giving them the sad news that for them to become a mother is to give up her genetics and seek the help of an egg donor.

Should celebrities make public service announcements about infertility much like celebrities make public service announcements about every other cause they are personally affected by?
Granted no woman is obliged nor should she ever be forced to share with the world how she conceived, regardless of whether she’s famous or not.  Infertility is incredibly hard, private and personal.  However, all of this miracle pregnancy mumbo jumbo that we see in all of the magazines, the internet, and television by celebrities has got to stop.  We aren’t doing ourselves any favors by drinking the fertility Kool-Aid and believing everything we read.  This is about protecting your own fertility by being informed and aware of the facts.  It’s also about protecting your self-esteem. Back in 2000 Larry King asked Cheryl Tiegs if she used an egg donor to conceive her twins and her reply was: “No, it’s my eggs and my husband’s sperm so they’re our babies. I’ve been taking care of myself for so long, I know my reproductive organs are much younger than I am.” This left me saying aloud “Really Cheryl, you’re 52, really?!” What’s even more interesting about the whole Cheryl Tiegs thing is when she and her husband divorced, Cheryl lost custody of her newborn twins to her husband. I know it made me stop and say “Hmm.” I wonder what the rest of the world thought. The message that’s pumped into the media is that for women like you and me who are looking into the fishbowl of “celebrityville” it can be incredibly misleading – it equates to false hope and being complacent about your reproductive health.
So why aren’t more famous women speaking out and being honest about their fertility or infertility issues?
Lauri Berger de Brito of the Agency for Surrogacy Solutions in Los Angeles says, “The presumption is that if you look young, your eggs are young.”  For men it’s like the old adage:  “Men are like fine wine they get better with age”.  Men can continue to manufacture sperm until they die – take a look at Tony Randall he was in his mid-80’s when he became a father.  However, in Hollywood, Bollywood, or wherever you are in the world, getting older does not go hand in hand with fertility – women are not perceived as getting better with age especially when it comes to their eggs.
But wouldn’t it be lovely if just one celebrity would come forward, be vulnerable and say: “I am a mother via egg donation and I am proud.”

EGG DONATION: One of Hollywood’s Dirty Little Secrets?

Really? A dirty little secret? You have got to be kidding me.

CNN just published an article titled:

 What the Yuck: Are Celebs More Fertile Than The Rest Of Us?

The article begins with a simple question:  “Are celebs more fertile than the rest of us? How come so many are able to have babies in their mid- and late 40s?”

And so the article goes on to say:

“You've stumbled onto one of Hollywood's "Dirty Little Secrets": donor eggs and in vitro fertilization (IVF). While being famous can get you far in life, it doesn't extend the warranty on your ovaries. It just gives that A-lister greater access to cutting-edge fertility treatments and doctors that the rest of us may not know about or be able to afford.”

My reply to that is “Well no doh!”

We’ve only been talking about it for the past twenty plus years, and heck yes it’s expensive.  Uber expensive, and in most states not covered by insurance.

And while I get that it’s personal, it’s intimate and private – celebrities are doing the public a huge disservice all over the globe by making us think that fertility is bountiful after forty.


So the answer to the above question is no, celebrities are not more fertile than the rest of us and the reason many are able to have babies in their mid to late forties  is because they are using egg donation (GASP) to create or add to their families.  Are women having children naturally on their own after forty?  Yes, but is it easy? No.  Do they often need help?  Yes.

The scoop on fertility is pretty straight forward.  Fertility begins to decline at age 28-30.  By age 32 the real decline begins.  After age 35 hormone levels begin to show continued decline and by age 40 a real decline has occurred.  By age 45, 85-90% of all women attempting to have a child are doing it through egg donation.

And there is no shame in that.  Now if these celebrities (you know who you are) really wanted to help the women’s movement and participate in real public service, they would speak up and out about egg donation, be proud of themselves and their children and support third party reproduction. It would take the stigma and mystery out egg donation as well as make the entire process less scary for everyone else.

I say we need to do to egg donation what we have done for Breast Cancer Awareness – educate, empower, and support!

So come on you amazing movie stars, singers, and public figures who have used an egg donor to create your family, let’s hear your voice.  You are being called to help.

Should Celebrities and Public Figures “Out” Themselves Just Because They Choose Donor Egg?

And while I am on a roll today --

I have been involved in a very animated and ongoing discussion about celebrities and public figures that may or may not used a donor egg to create or grow their families. The conversation has revolved around the topic of disclosure and should they step forward and speak up about their reproductive choices (i.e. – if they used donor egg or their own egg) because they are celebrities or public figures.

My opinion (for what it’s worth) is that they should not have to step forward and “out” themselves anymore than any other woman who chooses this route to create or grow their family. I can’t tell you how many women have come across my path who absolutely are not disclosing to their families, friends, or even the children born from donor egg for a myriad of reasons. Some of those reasons are religious, cultural, personal, familial, or out of fear. But whatever the reasons they need to be respected.

I am not sure why our society feels that because an individual should choose a job such as an entertainer, a public servant, or any other position that puts him or her in the public light that we feel entitled to know everything there is to know about his or her medical history, or medical choices or really anything about them for that matter.

The argument I hear all.the.time – which is maddening -- “They (celebrities or public figures) could be a great public service announcement for all of us who have waited too long to start a family. Think of the millions of women each year they could reach if they would ONLY fess up to using an egg donor to have a child.”

Okay – now hang on a second. Exactly whose responsibility is it to advocate and care for your health? Reproductively or otherwise? Is it the movie star’s or the singers? How about the Congress woman’s? No, it’s YOURs – it’s your job to ask those questions about your fertility, and when your fertility declines. It’s not up to a celebrity or a public figure to educate the masses. Unless they choose to.

Without sounding too much like Margo Thomas and her I’m Okay You’re Okay stuff – I do want to say that celebrities and public figures are people to. They have a right to their privacy just like you and me – and if we were “outed” against our will, or felt pressed to out ourselves, you can imagine how loud the protests would be about not respecting other people’s privacy.