Maria Menounos tries IVF after being told: Youre not able to have kids
Maria Menounos is the cover story for Health Magazine’s July/August issue. I think Maria is beautiful but I am not crazy about that cover; that top isn’t doing anything for me. Maria has such an effervescent personality; like her enthusiasm for everything just bubbles out of her. But she’s not a lightweight; she knows what she wants and goes after it. Last March, she and Keven Undergaro got engaged after 19 years together. Although she gleefully accepted his proposal, they decided the wedding would take a back seat to their first priority, which is having children. Unfortunately, Maria’s doctor told her she could not conceive naturally so they decided to pursue IVF. She has been documenting the process on Snapchat. Maria opened up to Health about IVF, getting healthy and her wedding plans. You can read the whole article here, but below are a few highlights.
On thinking she couldn’t have children:
“My doctor ran a test and said to me, ‘I have really bad news: You’re not able to have kids.’ I was like, ‘What?!… The next day, I started thinking about it, and I got really sad. But I thought, “This isn’t my body. What is happening here?”
Where she is in the IVF process:
“Last November, I had three embryos made, and we put them in the freezer…. Last month, I did another egg retrieval, and I got two eggs…. So now I’m realizing I have kids in a freezer. It makes it real when you know the sex. I was like, ‘What is happening?!’ So I called my mom and said, ‘Mom, you’re a grandma! Here’s what we’ve got in the freezer—don’t tell anybody. Isn’t this weird.’”
One the number one thing her mother taught her:
“Always cook more. Never be left with not enough. We overdo it. When you cook really good food, most people are going to eat more, so it’s good to have a little extra. Also, keep it simple.”
On the fad diets she tried before losing over 40 pounds:
“The coffee diet, the grapefruit diet, all of them. Nothing lasted more than a day.”
On indulging during a cheat day:
“I don’t look at them as cheat days. The other night, the hormones had gotten to me, and I was like, ‘I want to go get an ice cream.’ don’t feel guilty about it.”
On what her wedding will be like:
“It’ll be outside, for sure…. But we’re trying to figure out the kid thing first because that’s the most time-pressing—and the most important.”
My only issue with her idea to cook more is that when I do that I am usually the one who ends up eating it. I tried every fad diet in the book, too, only to ultimately find success with portion control and exercise – *sigh* who knew?
Okay, actually I am just stalling because I don’t want to write this next part. After Maria gave the Health interview, she announced that the first round of IVF didn’t work by posting her negative pregnancy test to Snapchat. It broke my heart when I read that. Maria said they wanted two kids so she would have to go through the whole process twice. Of the first round’s embryos, Maria said, “two were bad quality, one was fair quality, and two were good quality,” I am not sure what this means for her chances. I imagine her wedding will be on hold for the time being. Not that it matters, she and Keven are obviously committed to each other. Whatever happens with her family planning, I am sure Maria will make the most of it. I do wish them luck on their journey. I know it can be a very bumpy path.
Photo credit: Health Magazine and Fame/Flynet Photos
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