A fan pried into Chrissy Teigen’s IVF experience and her response was fantastic
Earlier this morning, Chrissy Teigen shared a beautiful photo of an obviously thriving newborn Miles, and it prompted some surprising chatter about how he was conceived.
Pushing back against preconceptions
When a follower commented on Chrissy’s photo asking about how Miles came to be, a discussion rapidly unfolded.
“I know IVF was used for Luna, was it used for baby brother also?” a follower posted.
Comments came thick and fast, with well-intentioned fans keen to protect the Lip Sync Battle star by admonishing the lady who asked about Miles’ conception.
“I know Luna has 10 fingers and 10 toes, did you guys chose that for baby Miles too?” one person wrote sarcastically.
“Do you really find it necessary to know that or ask that? And why? She’s a celebrity but that still does not give you the right. That was a total cringeworthy moment,” another lambasted.
But Chrissy was not having any of this negativity. She slid into the comments section and gently explained that – for her – talking about her IVF journey was totally okay. Important even.
“I wasn’t offended by it,” she corrected. “People are just curious and I think hearing success stories gives people hope. I’m all for talking about IVF.”
Let’s talk about it!
And indeed, Chrissy has been really open, not only about the fact that she’s conceived both of her babies through IVF procedures, but that it’s been a difficult process at times.
“You hear stores about IVF working the first try, but you’ll hear a lot more stories about when it takes a few times,” Chrissy told The Cut earlier this year, before Miles was born. “Ours didn’t work the first time, and it was devastating.”
She says she blamed herself, and honestly these are feelings that will hit home with most women who wonder if a particular snack or behaviour is sabotaging their health in some way – when it’s usually not.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, I was on my feet too much, and that’s why,'” Chrissy said. “You just look for anything to blame, especially yourself. I think hearing stories is just really important. You realise there’s no right way to do it, or right way to react.”
Read more about Chrissy Teigen:
- Chrissy Teigen shares vagina-steaming, breast-pumping, NASA admiring baby pics
- Found it! The baby carrier Chrissy Teigen uses for newborn Miles
- Breastfeeding mum Chrissy Teigen’s freaking out about her veiny “milky boobs”
No pain, no gain
Chrissy says that while IVF can be gruelling, she’s not lost sight of how amazing it is that it actually works.
“It’s easy to grow resentful of how easy it is for some people [to get pregnant], when you’re literally mixing your own powders and chemicals to inject into your belly, shoving progesterone up there.”
“When you go through IVF, it does feel like ‘Oh it’s not fair I have to do all this.’ Still, it’s a complete miracle when it works. There are so many people that still struggle, even with access to IVF,” she said.
“This is a miracle”
She also points out that women are constantly told they’ll get pregnant at the drop of a hat, and that her own experience has shown her that things are much more complicated than we’re often lead to believe.
“It’s kind of amazing because you’re like ‘Oh my goodness, I grew up my whole life trying to avoid pregnancy’ and hearing stories about people in high school randomly getting pregnant the first time they slept with someone.”
“But IVF makes you really appreciate that, my God, this is a miracle. There are so many different factors that go into being able to conceive a baby. The process really makes you appreciate that.”