Last year, Gabrielle Union revealed she had eight or nine miscarriages trying to conceive with her husband, Dwyane Wade. She made the revelation in her New York Times best-selling book, We’re Going to Need More Wine. The actress appeared on The Dr. Oz Show earlier this week to further explain why she went public with her fertility struggles and shared more about her experience and unsuccessful IVF treatments, a medical procedure whereby an egg is fertilized by sperm in a test tube or elsewhere outside the body.
Union said she suffered the miscarriages both from IVF treatments and naturally. She expressed some frustration saying she got married and planned to conceive unaware anything was wrong.
“Initially, I didn’t know what the issue was,” she said. “I got off birth control, I got married, and I was ready to start a family. I didn’t think there was going to be any problem, and there was. So I was always having these early miscarriages. Some from IVF, some just naturally happening on our own.”
She then told the doctor she lost count of the miscarriages but insisted the first one was the toughest on her.
“The first one was the most brutal because we told people,” Union said. “We were so excited. You know, you dream of this moment. Those dreams were just crushed. And [miscarriages] just happened in rapid succession over the next few years.”
Although sharing her story can be difficult, the Being Mary Jane star said it is important because “there’s no reason to suffer in silence.”
“No one wants the world to think you’re ‘defective’ or less than a perfect woman or less than capable. There’s so much shame and mystery and guilt that surrounds fertility issues. That’s why I wanted to include it in my book because I’m tired of it.”
Watch the full interview below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28ZmRqp7kY
