Lolo Jones, 39, tearfully shares why she's decided to start the IVF process: 'I'm running out of time to start a family'
Lolo Jones is preparing her body for IVF.
The Olympic hurdler and bobsledder, 39, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share that she is beginning the egg retrieval process in hopes of being able to have a child through in vitro fertilization.
In a video she posted of the process, she tearfully explained how she wants "a family," but has spent years waiting for a husband to begin that journey. Now that she's turning 40 on August 5, Jones said she's taking the process into her own hands and beginning the first steps of the in vitro fertilization process, which includes freezing her eggs. That includes giving herself routine hormone injections and going to doctor's appointments to make sure she can proceed.
"Terrified. 15 days before I turned 40," she wrote in her Instagram caption. "Nothing has scared me more than feeling like I'm running out of time to have a family. I originally wanted to freeze my eggs when I was in my early 30's. I just kept thinking I will meet my husband and things will all work out. Well here I am almost 10 years later and it hasn't."
In order to quell her "anxiety" around having kids, she started the process with Frame Fertility. The Celebrity Big Brother contestant learned that she had "great egg reserve" and that she can now start the egg freezing process.
"I want to encourage women to check into this earlier. Not every women is the same. You can be 35 years old and have the egg count of someone who is 25 or you can be 25 years old and already losing your eggs at a high rate," she continued. "If you know you want to start a family but just can't do it now maybe for career reasons or you don't have a husband look into freezing your eggs."
Jones received much praise for her candor in the comments section. One follower wrote, "You’re not alone! I’m through the same process at 39. Many blessings to you and your journey. Thank you for sharing." Another added, "So proud of you, Lolo. You are speaking for SO many women. Thank you for being vulnerable and not being silent about this. We all love you so much and are praying with you. It takes so much strength to be transparent about this."
Jones is not the only star to open up about deciding to freeze her eggs. Mary Fitzgerald of Selling Sunset recently shared that she and her husband were starting the process in order to have children.
"Women, ladies, freeze your eggs when you're young," Fitzgerald shared in a June Instagram post. "Unfortunately, this is part of being over 40. It's unfortunate, but if this is a learning lesson for any of you out there and you are focused on your career or haven't met the right guy yet, freeze your eggs."
In April, Sienna Miller — who is mom to 9-year-old daughter Marlowe — told ELLE she decided to freeze her eggs so she could plan for a potential next child.
"Having been really focused on the need to have another baby, I'm just like, if it happens, it happens. That kind of existential threat has dissipated," she said of the process.
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