From Beyoncé to Mariah Carey, several celebrities have opened up to fans about their struggles to conceive children.
Gabrielle Union is the latest to bravely share her story, revealing in her new book, We’re Going to Need More Wine, that she has suffered several miscarriages on the road to conception with her husband, Dwyane Wade.
“I have had eight or nine miscarriages. For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant—I’ve either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle, or coming out of an IVF cycle.”
While the Being Mary Jane actress has previously spoken about her IVF journey, she’s yet to share the heartbreaking details of her pregnancy struggles.
Still, Union, 44, and her NBA baller husband are optimistic and “remain bursting with love and ready to do anything to meet the child we’ve both dreamed of,” according to the beauty.
Union admits to People that she didn’t want children before tying the knot, but that raising three boys with Wade, 35, opened her mind to having her own.
“I never wanted kids. Then I became a stepmom, and there was no place I’d rather be than with them,” she said.
The pair are raising Wade’s sons Zaire, 15, and Zion, 10, as well as nephew Dahveon Morris, 16. Wade’s third son, Xavier, 3, conceived with another woman while Wade and Union were broken up, lives with his mother.
Speaking of her ongoing efforts to conceive, Union shared, “Once a month I look like I’m in my second trimester because I’m bloated. It leads to the questions and it leads to the rumors, and anytime I go into a doctor’s office I feel like I’m a member of SEAL Team Six undercover because I don’t want people to speculate.”
In the end, Union hopes opening up will encourage women going through the same thing while letting others know just how sensitive of a subject conception can be.
“For so many women, and not just women in the spotlight, people feel very entitled to know, ‘Do you want kids?’ A lot of people, especially people that have fertility issues, just say ‘no’ because that’s a lot easier than being honest about whatever is actually going on. People mean so well, but they have no idea the harm or frustration it can cause.”
