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Friday, September 08, 2006

Not to Turn This Into Celebrity Infertility Blog...

...but...in light of Lyrehca's question about Marcia Cross's recently announced pregnancy, I ended up googling her and came up with this quote from a USAToday article:

Cross was well aware of the risks associated with later-in-life pregnancies, and spoke frankly that she might feel more confident adopting or even hiring a surrogate.

Many new mothers in their 40s, she said, rely on donated eggs — at a very costly price tag. "I don't like the average woman being misled into thinking that fertility is something that goes on forever," said Cross.

"When a woman gets older, they get donor eggs, which doesn't make the baby any less beautiful or perfect. One's own eggs only last so long, and sometimes at 43 or 44 you can have your own baby, but statistically it's very difficult and expensive. You don't want to wait that long."

I'm chalking up the simplicity of the statement to the fact that she was speaking to a reporter to USAToday and not a fellow Stirrup Queen. Not that she has come out with a formal statement about fertility treatments, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due since I was just bitching about celebrities sharing the innermost details of their lives...except for infertility. Marcia has already scored high on my sliding scale (late marriage gave her higher points) so I am happy for her regardless. But it would be great if she did use donor eggs to come out and make a statement about that. Become a spokesperson for RESOLVE. Get information out to the public about third-party reproduction. Work it into the Desperate Housewives storyline. I'm dreaming big. And wasting precious down-time minutes googling possibly infertile celebrities. Who else? Who else?

8 comments:

Lyrehca said...

Interesting. I didn't realize she'd said that about donor eggs, but reading between the lines, she sounds like she's admitting she used donor eggs. She's 44. She just got married. Seems like she realizes she didn't want to take six months to try on her own before consulting a fertility doc.

Maybe she'll be more open about it if she carries the baby to term and has a healthy child. Seems like joining RESOLVE and becoming a spokesperson, just as she announced her pregnancy, might be expecting too much, too soon. But it'd be interesting to see how things progress.

C said...

I saw her pregnancy announcement, but not her quote about donor eggs. Interesting. Very interesting.

Sarah and Tim said...

I totally agree. More people need to talk about these things. Why is it so taboo? It's reality.... nothing to be ashamed of.

Anonymous said...

I have to echo the others...interesting. I'll watch Cross in the media and see what else comes out. I'm just curious.

noela said...

I guess I should have "saved" my comment about Marcic Cross below for this post. ;)

So, I'll just repeat myself I suppose....

There is a huge discussion on IVF Connections right now discussing Marcia Cross, her pregnancy, and her use of donor eggs.

Given all the quotes from Marcia, it is now firmly believed that she did in fact use donor eggs. I really commend her for finding a way to speak honestly and tactfully about infertility, age, and donor eggs.

I wish more 40-ish year old celebrities would be as honest. There is nothing wrong at all using IVF or donor eggs to conceive.

Also, Marcia's husband is 48 YEARS OLD. Men's fertility declines sharply after 40 as well, which the medical community is just finding out now.

I also want to say, with Marcia being due in April like I would have been had I not just miscarried -- she is announcing her pregnancy VERY EARLY to the outside world!

I don't think she can even be out of the first trimester yet, considering she just married in June. She would have conceived in July/August (my transfer was August 9). So, I have to say while I'm not surprised she used donor eggs, I AM surprised that she has publicly announced her pregnancy so early on. She is definitely not out of the woods yet. But, I wish her well and hope that she manages to avoid the typical IVF miscarriage stats!

Lollipop Goldstein said...

It is early. Very early. Though one of the articles that came up when I googled her put the story about donor eggs around the wedding. So she would have conceived back in June/July. Maybe she's just in the beginning of her second trimester?

Somewhat Ordinary said...

I think I saw in the news thatshe is due in April, which tells me she is maybe in the 8 week range depending on if it is early April or late April. I was very surprised when they said that she was expecting in April and I had two thoughts, "Wow, she is announcing very early especially for a celeb," and "I wonder if she used donor eggs?"

Anonymous said...

Well, people don't talk about using donor eggs, because its PRIVATE. They aren't ashamed of it - they just don't see why its anyone else's business. Does that make sense?