Kenya Moore, star of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, conceived with IVF and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Brooklyn Doris in November 2018. She lived in Atlanta while her restaurateur husband, who tries to avoid the limelight, was in New York; but why did Kenya Moore go to Barbados for IVF?
While the couple has discussed their fertility journey on many appearances, they haven’t mentioned about the reason to do the treatment in the Caribbean.
TMZ reported that Kenya had arrived solo for her treatment, while her husband, Marc Daly joined her later. The happy couple was seen walking out of the airport with Daly carrying a small suitcase.
Why go to Barbados for IVF?
Even though Kenya and Marc did not ever talk about why they decided to go to the Caribbean, travelling for IVF is a common practice.
Barbados fertility centre claims that they offer affordable pricing, high IVF success rates, all kinds of fertility treatments and is also internationally accredited.
For celebrities like Kenya Moore, privacy is possibly another reason to get IVF overseas.
Many of our clients also choose to go for IVF in Mexico, which is also only a fraction of the price and has clinics with excellent international support. One of our patients said, “the service is the same, if not better,” than her clinic in the US and it barely cost her half of what she expected to spend.
Starting family with IVF
The 46-year-old entrepreneur and reality star gave an indication of her desire to start a family via an Instagram post that showed her dogs Kings and Twirl playing in the sand.
“My twins #KingsandTwirl they bring so much fulfillment in my life, calm, happiness and purpose. I can only imagine what children do. Pray for me,” she wrote. Although later, she deleted the “pray for me” part.
Was IVF difficult?
IVF in older women can be difficult as female fertility declines sharply with age. Kenya said, she’d heard stories of struggle but “I don’t have a horror story.”
“It’s weird because you hear other people’s troubles with the injections and the hormones. And for me, it was a pretty simple process,” she said in an interview with People magazine, a few weeks after announcing her pregnancy.
Even though she’s afraid of needles and injections, she said she got through it easily. Since IVF needles are so small, the stimulation injections were almost painless.
“The injections were fine, I got through that by myself, it was fine,” Kenya said. “I didn’t feel crazy, I didn’t feel like I was losing control or anything like that.”
The ovarian stimulation went well for her but the only “thing that hurt the most was them sticking me with the IV when they had to extract the eggs because my veins are so tiny,” she said, “But that’s the only thing that was uncomfortable. The rest of it wasn’t painful.”
Luckily, Kenya Moore’s IVF was a smooth process and she was able to conceive quickly.
Pregnancy
Kenya Moore was advised not to do the OTC pee test as they are not always accurate; it could come out negative, when it is actually positive. She waited to have the blood test at the clinic.
“I was nervous because I hate to have my blood drawn. And then the technician who was drawing my blood said, ‘Did you cheat?’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ And she said, ‘Most people go and they’ll take the test over the counter.’
And I said, “No because it’s not as accurate as the blood test and I just don’t want any false alarms or to be let down when I really wasn’t supposed to be and it’s only a few hours away, so why not wait and get the proper results?”.
But she couldn’t wait for so long, and went straight to the supermarket to collect an OTC pregnancy test, after having her blood test done. She even took the test in the bathroom of the supermarket as she couldn’t wait to get home.
“It was just overwhelming. I could not wait. And it was positive,” she said. “And then I got the call from the doctor later that day confirming that I was indeed pregnant and had a positive test and what my HCG levels were. She said it was all really good news. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what to say!’”
Towards the end of her pregnancy, in the final weeks, Moore suffered from preeclampsia, which caused high blood pressure, and excessive swelling from fluid retention.
In November 2018, Kenya delivered a baby girl after an emergency C-section and posted a picture of her rather flat abs and almost-perfect curves just within three weeks, even though she was not allowed to work-out.
The couple named their baby, Brooklyn Doris Daly.
Husband came on TV to discuss Kenya Moore’s IVF
Marc Daly made a rare appearance—along with Kenya and their daughter—on The Tamron Hall Show.
“You agreed to come out because you really wanted to talk to other men, other husbands, significant others, partners going through this,” Hall said to Marc Daly, who was there for the male perspective on IVF. “What was it like for you?”
“It’s incredibly challenging because the success rate for these treatments are very low,” Daly said. “So, there’s a lot of disappointment, expectations, and you also have to be prepared for disappointment so just being there, being supportive, being hopeful, and being just positive and being behind her is what it’s really about.”
Kenya Moore marriage & divorce
Moore had eloped to St. Lucia with Daly and surprised her fans by announcing her marriage in June 2017.
However, she said that her restaurateur husband was having a difficult time dealing with her fame.
Less than a year after having their baby, in September 2019, the couple parted ways. However, it took 3 years to finalize their divorce in December 2023.
Kenya Moore and Marc Daly shared joint legal custody of their daughter, Brooklyn, and Moore holds the sole authority for making decisions related to “any and all economic opportunities for the minor child.”
While there’s no spousal support, Moore receives $2,000 every month in child support and an additional $1,000 per month towards their daughter’s college fund.
Kenya had called Marc “the love of my live” and the divorce came as a surprise to everyone. The couple did not share any reasons for their divorce but talking to People magazine the reality star confirmed her return to season 16 of the RHOA. “I’m excited for this next chapter in my life and being the best mom I can be for my daughter, Brooklyn,” she said.