Sarah Jessica Parker’s IVF Journey

Sarah Jessica Parker’s IVF and surrogacy treatments have been discussed for a while now since the ‘Sex and the City’ star shared about her struggles with infertility, as she tried to conceive her second baby with husband Matthew Broderick.

Parker, like many women suffered from secondary infertility, which is the struggle to get pregnant after you’ve already had child.

Secondary infertility is just as common as primary infertility. According to the data shared by the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), 11 percent of the people in the US who’ve already had children before, face secondary infertility (1).  This means 4 million women in the US alone, which represents about half of all cases of infertility.

SJP’s first pregnancy

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick welcomed their first son, James Willkie Broderick, in October 2002, when Parker was 37 years old. He was conceived naturally.

Parked described the experience of giving birth as a magical, life changing experience. Speaking about the birth of James, she reportedly told the Edit Magazine, “I only got to give birth once. I would give birth as often as I could, if I could.”

Sadly, Parker and her husband experienced secondary infertility problems when trying to give James a sibling.

Wanted siblings for the first-born

Parker grew up as one of eight siblings and did not want James to be an only child. She stated that she “didn’t want him to have to shoulder the burden of us later in life—by himself.”

The couple tried unsuccessfully to conceive again for many years but in vain. “We tried and tried and tried and tried to get pregnant; it just was not to be,” she told the US Vogue magazine.

So, they considered hiring a surrogate and also listed for adoption, and surrogacy happened sooner.

Even though money may not have been a concern for SJP, surrogacy in the US costs upwards of $150,000 and the cost is prohibitive for many people. Many of our clients opt for more affordable IVF and surrogacy in Mexico.

Sarah Jessica Parker’s IVF – surrogacy

The popular TV star has never publicly revealed what her exact fertility issues were or how many cycles of IVF they underwent but she was closer to 40 while trying to conceive again.

Since fertility declines with advancing age, this could have affected her chances of conceiving. In fact, age can be a common cause of secondary infertility, given that women are now waiting until they are much older to start their families.

“We’ve been trying to expand our family for a number of years and we actually have explored a variety of ways of doing so. [Surrogacy] was one of the things we discussed with seriousness that had real possibilities for us,” she said in an interview with Access Hollywood.

When prodded about the disappointment in not being able to conceive, SJP said, “Yeah, I mean, I couldn’t pretend otherwise … It would be odd to have made this choice if I was able to, you know, have successful pregnancies since my son’s birth.”

Did SJP get donor eggs?

If you announce pregnancy at 44, it is likely that you will be questioned about the use of donor eggs. One of the main reasons for IVF failure and for not being able to conceive after a certain age is the quality of a woman’s eggs, which declines as she ages.

However, there have been instances of women conceiving with their own eggs in their forties and even though less probable, it is not impossible.

Besides, what are the chances that you’re a Hollywood celebrity and opted to freeze your eggs when they were still good? It is a common trend and SJP certainly must have the means to do it.

If someone chooses to not speak about whether or not they opted for donor eggs or why they had to go with a surrogate, it should be respected.

SJP’s decision to hire a surrogate

In 2008, when Parker was 43, they chose Michelle Ross as their surrogate. There was a lot od speculation around it and some suspected that the decision is a result of SJP’s work commitments (a sequel to the Sex and the City movie was under production at the time).

“I knew there would be lots of opinions about, ‘Well, why didn’t you adopt? Why didn’t you do this? Why didn’t you do that?’ and the truth of the matter is, it wasn’t one or the other for us,” Parker said.

“We had explored, and continue to explore all options, and this one just happened first. This isn’t the period at the end of the sentence.”

Having twins via surrogacy

Parker and Broderick were delighted when they found out that their surrogate was in fact carrying twin girls. However, for a long time they were unable to share this joy with anyone. “We couldn’t talk about the fact that we were having children to anybody for sooo long!” she said.

“All the stuff that matters is secretive and worrisome. You can’t talk about how you feel about the woman who’s carrying your children; you can only talk to your husband,” she said. “And he just doesn’t want to talk about it as much as you do.”

Media troubles for SJP’s surrogate

Due to the media interest in actor’s life, once their surrogate was named, she was hounded by the press. Michelle Ross was subjected to behavior such as being followed and having her personal phone and computer hacked.

This culminated in a former police chief being jailed after breaking into Ross’s house and taking photographs of her surrogacy file, including ultrasound pictures, in order to sell these to the press.

During this time, Parker was very stressed that she couldn’t do enough to protect her surrogate and unborn babies. It kept her from sleeping every night.

“It’s really incredibly upsetting to think of her so far away and me not being able to do something, beyond what I’m legally allowed to do,” she said.

Birth of Sarah Jessica Parker’s twins

Despite the harassment throughout the pregnancy, the twins, Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick and Tabitha Hodge Broderick, made a healthy entrance into the world in June 2009.

In an interview with Vogue magazine, Parker talked about the pros and cons of surrogacy. “Meeting your children rather than giving birth to them, it’s as if, um, it’s suspended animation. The gestational experience is gone,” adding, “it’s so different, and equally extraordinary… But it’s amazing.”

Today, SJP’s son James Wilkie is 21 years, and her twin daughters are 13 years old.

Talking to People Magazine about their busy lives and family, Parker said, “Our lives are unpredictable, and we’re not always here when we want to be. We can’t always do drop-off and pick-up. But I’m proud that our children talk to us in the way they do. I’m glad they’re curious people.”

SJP’s parenting philosophy

During a podcast on iHeartRadio’s Table for Two, the show host, Bruce Bozzi, discussed discussed SJP’s parenting philosophy and her children’s relationship with money.

“You want your children to understand what it means to earn money, what it takes to earn money, the value of it,” she said.

“I think it’s a great way of living for children, that their needs are met — to be fed, safe and loved. The important things in life: books and food and interesting experiences, and they’re warm in the winter and cool in summer. But they should pine for things, they should want things.”

Sarah Jessica Parker’s IVF and surrogacy treatments had some challenges but they helped complete her family. Comments? Share below