Gabrielle Union shares her fertility troubles with the world in her new book.
In her new book We’re Going to Need More Wine the star “Being Mary Jane” star details her heartbreaking struggles with infertility and failed IVF treatments, in an attempt to conceive a child with her better half, Dwyane Wade.
“I have had eight or nine miscarriages,” Union, 44, writes in an excerpt of the book, shared via People. “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.”
According to the actress, even after three years of failed IVF cycles and relentless side effects, such as being bloated from the hormones, she and Wade “remain bursting with love and ready to do anything to meet the child we’ve both dreamed of.”
As previously reported, Union, who wed Wade in August 2014, didn’t initially see children as part of her future. That is, until she stepped in to help Wade raise three boys — his nephew Dahveon Morris, 16, and sons his from a previous marriage, Zaire, 15, and Zion, 10 (Wade’s third son Xavier, 3, lives with his mother) — and discovered the joys of motherhood.
“I never wanted kids,” she told People. “Then I became a stepmom, and there was no place I’d rather be than with them.”
Of course, dealing with infertility while being in the public eye also hasn’t been easy for Union. “For so many women, and not just women in the spotlight, people feel very entitled to know, ‘Do you want kids?’ ” she said. “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.
“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.”
That said, Union hopes that by sharing her story, it will change the way people approach her about the topic.
We’re Going to Need More Wine, hits shelves on Oct. 17. Do you plan to buy it? Sound off in the comment section below.
