PHOTOSGabrielle Union's Devastating Struggle With Infertility: 'I Have Had Eight Or Nine Miscarriages.'
Dec. 4 2017, Updated 11:59 a.m. ET
Being Mary Jane star Gabrielle Union has opened up about her heartbreaking struggle with infertility in her new book We’re Going To Need More Wine, where she bravely discusses her long battle to have a baby with hubby Dwayne Wade. Excerpts in the book reveals that she has had 8 or 9 miscarriages and the toll it has taken on her body as the married couple continue on in the journey to have a child of their own.
Gabrielle has spoken up about IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) in the past, but never to the extent of what it has done to her physically. “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,” she writes the new book.
“I have had eight or nine miscarriages,” she also reveals. To endure all of that for such a long time must be hard for not only her but Dwayne as well.
Even after going through all the pain and everything that comes with this struggle, Gabrielle and Dwayne "remain bursting with love and ready to do anything to meet the child we’ve both dreamed of.”
The couple married back in 2014, and Gabrielle admitted to not seeing children in her future. That thought process changed once she started to raise three boys with Dwayne: his nephew Dahveon Morris, 16, and sons from a previous marriage Zaire, 15, and Zion, 10 (he has a third son Xavier, 3, who was conceived with another woman while Wade and Union were broken up. He lives with his mother).
“I never wanted kids,” she told People Magazine. “Then I became a stepmom, and there was no place I’d rather be than with them.”
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It has also been hard for Gabrielle to deal with her struggles both in and out of the spotlight, as she’s asked by both friends and strangers about when she’ll have a baby.
For so many women, and not just women in the spotlight, people feel very entitled to know, ‘Do you want kids?'” she says in the book. “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.”
Each time she gets further in her pregnancy, her anxiety builds. “Once a month I look like I’m in my second trimester because I’m bloated,” she says. “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.”
By sharing her story, Gabrielle’s hopes are that people change their ways on how they approach her about this topic.
What are your thoughts on Gabrielle’s brave admission? Sound off in the comments!
