Sportscaster Erin Andrews battled infertility for nearly a decade before she and her husband, former NHL player Jarret Stoll, finally became parents last month.
After several unsuccessful rounds of in vitro fertilization — necessitated by Andrews’ cervical cancer diagnosis in 2016 — the couple knew her last IVF transfer would represent their final chance to have a child together.
The process worked, a surrogate mother was found and then on June 28, their son Mack was born — arriving at a healthy 7 pounds, 7 ounces.
“I’ll never forget the moment. (Their surrogate mother) asked to hold my hand so I grabbed her hand. I saw the tear coming down her face,” Andrews, 45, told Today show hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on Friday. “He came fast!”
Although Andrews had been declared cancer-free after undergoing two surgeries, she and Stoll decided to continue freezing her embryos and moving ahead with IVF in case the cancer returned.
Two years ago, they experienced a devastating loss of twins during the surrogacy process. It was then she decided to go public with her struggle in an effort to help others.
“For so long, I just wanted to be quiet about it,” Andrews said, “but then you look around, these places (IVF clinics) are packed. You’re not the only one going through this. And I felt like if I could be a voice, maybe just somebody people could look at — she’s going through it too — it would help the whole process for all of us.”
Andrews told TODAY in an interview before her TV appearance that losing the twins was especially hard on her. “I really struggled mentally. I didn’t handle it very well … I kind of tried to push it aside and act like everything was OK.”
However, talking to others who had been through infertility, IVF and surrogacy was something that really helped her and Stoll through what she called “10 years of hell.”
Now, those dark times have been replaced by the joy of becoming new parents. After two weeks, Andrews says she’s still getting used to her new reality.
“The way you think totally changes now,” she says. “You’re not just doing something for yourself, you’re doing something for this whole group, this whole family.”
