WEDDING CHANNEL AFRICA

On a recent episode of Katie Lowes’ Katie’s Crib podcast, LA’s Finest actress, Gabrielle Union, shares her experience through her fertility journey. Recounting her IVF journey, she spoke about the multiple doctors she saw while trying to get pregnant, who failed to diagnose her medical condition. She explained; “I went undiagnosed through multiple rounds of IVF with different leading doctors in the field around the country. Not until the last doctor, Dr. Kelly Baek in California. That first ultrasound, she was like, ‘Oh, so, you have Adenomyosis.’”

According to NHS in the UK, Adenomyosis, is a condition where the tissue that normally lines the womb starts to grow within the muscular wall of the womb. This condition is characterized by heavy, painful or irregular periods, and cause pelvic pain. People who suffer from this condition tend to have fertility issues. “When Dr. Baek started asking me more questions going back to my periods and what my experience was like with my periods as a younger woman, I explained that I ended up getting on the pill not for birth control reasons, but because my periods were lasting like a third of the month and I was bleeding like I had been shot in the vagina,” Gabrielle revealed in her interview.

Union recalled that at the time, her doctor, Dr. Baek, had said; “I don’t know why no one would’ve noticed this,” referring to previous doctors the actress had seen, as her condition was “really pronounced.” “I would’ve never probably known had I not been on this fertility journey,” she added. Still speaking with Lowes, the 47 year old actress suggested that since Adenomyosis affects the ovarian reserve, some clinics might be profiting off a patient’s lack of awareness. “If you’re going in and no one’s diagnosing you correctly… a lot of places will offer older women, or women who have these conditions that have been diagnosed, rounds to basically bundle – so you might do three rounds for this price because you’re not going to get a ton of eggs. But, no one’s super clear or honest because that affects your business” she explained.

According to Gabrielle, Dr. Baek earned her trust after diagnosing her with Adenomyosis and explaining the potential side effects and dangers the treatments would have on her IVF journey. “She just was honest for the first time that my road will be extremely challenging and the only way that I would be able to physically carry my baby myself is if I use this drug called Lupron,” she said, adding that Dr. Baek had explained that the drug could cause her to have brittle bones and suggested surrogacy as an option, “She was one of the first people to really be honest about surrogacy.”

Union admitted that at that time she thought the surrogacy route would be admitting failure. However, after considering her active lifestyle and the fact that the drug only gives her a 30% chance of conceiving, she thought; “Do I run the risk of causing greater harm to my body for a 30 percent chance?” She added that she and her husband, Dwayne Wade, decided to give surrogacy a try and to skip the medication. “My husband was like, Babe, I want you. I want you as much as you want this baby. I want you. Let’s pump the brakes and think about this and make a family decision,“ she said.

After multiple failed IVF attempts and miscarriages, Gabrielle and Dwayne welcomed their daughter, Kaavia, on November 7, 2018, via surrogacy.