What was Chrissy Teigen's IVF struggle?

Chrissy Tegien married John Legend in September 2013 and they declared that they want a lot of kids and a huge family.

Natural conception did not happen, probably because she suffered from endometriosis, so they decided to go the IVF route.

The first attempt failed and Teigen, like many women, blamed herself.

"I remember thinking, ‘Oh, I was on my feet too much, and that’s why.’ You just look for anything to blame, especially yourself,” she said. “I think hearing stories is just really important. You realize there’s no right way to do it, or right way to react.”

They had some frozen embryos and this time, she decided to do acupuncture before the embryo transfer. It worked, and the couple welcomed their daughter, Luna Simone Stephens, in April 2016.

Using another embryo from the same cycle, about two years later—in May 2018—Teigen gave birth to a baby boy, Miles Theodore Stephens.

Unexpected natural pregnancy

About two years later Teigen went into surgery to remove her breast implants, not knowing she was already pregnant. She hadn't expected to conceive naturally.

When she actually found out, she was terrified about having undergone boob surgery while being pregnant, but the doctor assured her that luckily, things were alright.

“What they say so often can be true. When you give up on trying, life has a way of surprising you,” Teigen wrote.

Tragically, the pregnancy ended in the second trimester due to medical complications and Tegien revealed how heartbroken they were. They had already “started to call this little guy in my belly Jack. So, he will always be Jack to us. Jack worked so hard to be a part of our little family, and he will be, forever."

Two years later, in September 2022, Teigen revealed the pregnancy loss was actually “an abortion to save my life for a baby that had absolutely no chance."

Simultaneous surrogacy

The couple started IVF again and welcomed a daughter, Esti Maxine, in January 2023.

Only five months after the birth of Esti, they had another baby, a boy—Wren Alexander—via surrogacy.

Teigen shared that her previous miscarriage made her doubt her own ability to conceive again and they considered two surrogates carry simultaneously with the possibility of having twins.

However, she ended up carrying one herself.

The first embryo transfer failed but with the second one, the surrogate became pregnant with their baby boy.

“Our hearts, and our home, are officially full, said Teigen. "And to our Jack, we know both their angel kisses are from you."

Chrissy Teigen has been very open about her IVF journey and the emotional side of infertility.

Some of the biggest struggles she talked about were:

1. failed IVF attempts
2. the physical side effects of treatment
3. feeling blamed or judged
4. the emotional pressure of trying to conceive publicly

She said one failed IVF cycle was “devastating” and admitted she kept wondering if she had done something wrong. At one point she said, “You just look for anything to blame yourself for.”

Another thing she discussed a lot was the bloating and hormone side effects during IVF. She also asked people to stop asking if she was pregnant because those comments were painful while she was actively going through treatment.

One quote from her that stuck with a lot of people was:

“The big question was why this wasn’t working for us when I was young and he was healthy.”

What made her story resonate is that she didn’t romanticize IVF at all. She openly talked about:

1. injections
2. failed cycles
3. grief
4. jealousy
5. self-blame
6. pregnancy loss

She and John Legend eventually had children through IVF, but she’s repeatedly said the emotional side of infertility was far harder than most people realize.