Celebrities lead charmed lives, right? Well, not quite. Celebrities may have more money than some, but they are plagued by the same problems as the rest of us. Take something simple, like having a baby. Easy? Maybe not.
According to a study by the Center for Disease Control, about 12 percent of women have problems conceiving and nearly 7 percent are infertile. Plus women are waiting longer and longer to have babies. Sad to say, the longer a woman waits, the harder it becomes. So it is not surprising that women are turning to fertility treatments. Here are 10 celebrities who turned to medicine for help.
10 Sofia Vergara - Embryo Custody Battle
In 2012 the Modern Family firebrand became engaged to businessman Nick Loeb. Sofia was around 40-years-old. All loved up, the two decided to have IVF (In Vitro Fertilization ) treatment, with eggs from Sofia. Two embryos were created and stored.
Alas, the couple broke up in 2014. Then things got weird. Loeb started filing lawsuits against Vergara. He was claiming the embryos had a right to life and that he should have custody. The battle continues to this day with Loeb trying to force Vergara to pay his $120,000 legal bill.
9 Maria Menounos - The Reality of IVF
Maria Menounos is one busy lady. However, the former E! News and Access Hollywood presenter and WWE wrestler has had a tough time of it. She and her fiance Kevin Undergaro tried and tried to have a baby via IVF. They failed.
Throughout the process, Maria shared the reality of IVF treatments on her social media accounts. It was sometimes hard to watch, such was her honesty. They decided to call it quits. She has gone on record saying that, after giving up IVF, she felt like herself again.
8 Jordana Brewster - Surrogacy Was The Answer
Panamanian-American actress and model Jordana Brewster started in television soap operas and hit it big when she signed on to the Fast and Furious franchise in 2001. She plays no-nonsense Mia Toretto. She and her film producer husband Andrew Form have two sons, Julian and Rowan. Both were born via a gestational surrogate, meaning another woman carried the embryos produced via IVF by Brewster and her husband.
She has gone on record saying that she regrets not being able to give birth, calling surrogacy a leap of faith.
7 Lucy Liu - No Time? Use A Surrogate
Five years ago Charlie's Angels star Lucy Liu was in her mid-forties and could hear her biological clock ticking away. But she was very busy. So she decided that she would continue working and use a surrogate to have the baby.
She used a gestational surrogate, meaning a fertilized egg from Liu was implanted into a surrogate. There was great upset on social media. People got up in arms because, as they saw it, she took the easy way out and "rented a womb". Her son Rockwell was born in 2015.
6 Brigette Nielsen - Pregnant at 54
In 2018, the news that 54-year-old Brigette Nielsen and her 30-something producer husband Mattia Dessi were expecting a baby following IVF treatments caused a media storm. It is a well-known fact that as a woman ages, the quality of her eggs diminishes. So many assumed she had paid for donor eggs.
Not so, said Brigette. I had my eggs frozen when I was around 40-years-old. Many say that the odds of that actually working are long. So we don't quite know what to believe. Baby Frida was born in 2018.
5 Hugh Jackman - Adopted After Failed IVF
Anybody who has been through IVF will tell you it is hell on the woman. Endless injections, exams, follow-ups, ending (hopefully) in a bumper harvest of eggs that will be fertilized using her partner's sperm.
Then you just hope embryos emerge that can be transplanted into the woman's womb. Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine in the X-Men film series has been vocal about the struggle he and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness had. They tried IVF, but each attempt ended in miscarriage. In the end, they adopted two children.
4 Natalie Imbruglia - Find-A-Donor Single Mom-To-Be
Singer/Songwriter/Actress and soon to be single mom Natalie Imbruglia has recently taken to Instagram and Facebook to announce that she is about to release a new album and that she is expecting her first child. The baby was conceived via IVF using donor sperm.
The baby is due in the Autumn of 2019. And no, she's not saying who the father is. The Australian/British 40-something has decided to skip the relationship thing and do it herself. She has said that she has wanted to have a baby for a long time.
3 Chrissy Teigen - Tears Followed By IVF Success
30-something Chrissy Teigen seemed to have it all: A jet-setting career as a supermodel and a loving marriage to singer John Legend. Behind the scenes, it was a different story. When she married Legend in 2013, the two assumed a child would just happen.
It didn't. She was worried and upset. When people asked when she was going to have a kid, she tended to get emotional. But the story has a happy ending. Thanks to IVF Chrissy and John have a daughter (Luna) and a son (Miles).
2 Kim Kardashian - Secondary Infertility
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After the birth of daughter North West in 2013, Kim desperately wanted a second baby. But she was suffering from secondary infertility. Secondary infertility occurs when a woman has had a baby, but has difficulty conceiving the second time around. Kim's problem was probably caused by complications during her first pregnancy with North.
After months and months of trying to conceive naturally, Kardashian and her husband Kanye West started IVF and got a result. Saint West was born in 2015. Babies three and four were born via a surrogate.