Anne Hathaway reflects on her challenging journey to motherhood and the heartfelt influence her openness about her experience has had over the years.
Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway, who is a mother to sons Jonathan, 8, and Jack, 4, with her husband Adam Shulman, recently looked back on her challenging journey to motherhood. She shared how she faced a miscarriage while performing in the Off-Broadway play Grounded for nearly six weeks in 2015.
Reflecting on her experience, she told in a cover story published on March 25, «The first time it didn’t work out for me. I was doing a play and I had to give birth onstage every night.»
During that time, she felt that «it was too much to keep it in when I was onstage pretending everything was fine,» and chose to be honest about her struggles with her friends and family. «I had to keep it real otherwise.»
Later on, she extended this same openness to the public when announcing her pregnancy. She explained, «When it did go well for me, having been on the other side of it — where you have to have the grace to be happy for someone — I wanted to let my sisters know, ’You don’t have to always be graceful. I see you, and I’ve been you.’»
«It’s really hard to want something so much and to wonder if you’re doing something wrong,» she added. The Oscar winner further recalled her shock at learning how many pregnancies end in miscarriage. According to the Mayo Clinic, 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, though the actual number is likely higher. She wished that this information was more widely disseminated.
Anne continued, «I thought, ’Where is this information? Why are we feeling so unnecessarily isolated?’ That’s where we take on damage. So I decided that I was going to talk about it.»
When Anne Hathaway announced her second pregnancy on Instagram in 2019, she accompanied it with a powerful caption.
«It’s not for a movie…» Hathaway wrote, referring to her baby bump. «All kidding aside, for everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies. Sending you extra love.»
Reflecting on the impact of her candid post, she shared, «The thing that broke my heart, blew my mind, and gave me hope was that for three years after, almost daily, a woman came up to me in tears and I would just hold her, because she was carrying this (pain) around, and suddenly it wasn’t all hers anymore.»
Reflecting on her experience, she shared that given «the pain I felt while trying to get pregnant, it would’ve felt disingenuous to post something all the way happy when I know the story is much more nuanced than that for everyone.»
Recently another actress, Nicole Kidman, also shared her struggles having children.
‘Families don’t have to match’ – Black couple share their journey to adopting three white children
Sadie and Jarvis Sampson tried everything for years to get pregnant, and eventually they accepted that they would only ever be aunt and uncle. Then, one day, they received a text that completely turned their world upside down.
Since getting married in January 2018, the pair has been trying to get pregnant, so when that didn’t work out naturally, they tried everything else.
The Houston mother told Love What Matters, “Ovulation tests, prenatal vitamins, cycle tracking apps, fertility monitors.”
“We didn’t even try our luck at following the unsolicited counsel of strangers, friends, and family. We tried, prayed, and waited for fourteen months. Month after Month. pregnancy test negative following negative test. It appeared like we would require help getting pregnant. We even went so far as to discuss it with medical professionals.
The couple seemed to get little assistance from the doctors. Sadie was advised by everyone that she would get pregnant if she reduced weight. Since she had no other options, she underwent gastric surgery and shed 28 pounds.’
“She informed me that since she was unable to give me the fertility medication, she would refer me to a fertility specialist if I wasn’t pregnant within six months,” Sadie recalled. I was ecstatic to hear that. We finally received a response other than “no”! We were ecstatic to hear “not right now.”
Unfortunately, though, the couple felt as though they had begun over after Sadie lost the weight and they were unable to conceive.
Connecting the Dots – Adoption Puzzle Fundraising EventAs everyone is aware, we received a call regarding our little two weeks ago.
Published on Friday, August 30, 2019 by Sadie Sampson
Sadie said, “I had always felt like I was meant to be a mother.” “I was still not pregnant even though my surgeon had spent a long time to warn me about how fertile I would be following surgery. Thus, we gave up. We came to the realization that our only destiny was to be our nieces’ aunts and uncles and our goddaughters’ godparents.
The couple had just come to the painful conclusion that they would not be able to conceive when Sadie’s friend texted her to ask if they would be willing to foster a child that a couple she knew was thinking about for themselves.
At first, the couple was apprehensive since they had been instructed by a caseworker to look after the child while the mother sought therapy. The couple was concerned that they would grow overly devoted to the child. But soon after, the narrative was altered.
The caseworker stated, “The birth mother decided she would prefer you guys adopt the child instead.”
“Holy crap!!” was the first thing Sadie uttered out loud when she learned she was expecting a child.
“Overnight, we went from not having any kids to possibly fostering one to, ‘You guys are parents!’” Still in shock, I listened to the caseworker as she spoke. After hanging up, I dialed my spouse! “Baby!” They desire that we adopt the child! They want us to have kids,” I cried out. Hold on! Really? He exclaimed, “I assumed they just wanted us to foster him.” “Nope!” “They want us to be his parents,” I remarked.
Over the weekend, the couple not only processed the surprising news but also braced themselves in case the mother had second thoughts.
On Monday, the mother not only expressed her desire for them to adopt the child, but also stated that she was prepared to sign the adoption papers independently.
At 33 weeks, their son had been born—seven weeks ahead of schedule. His weight was 4 lbs. 5 oz. Sadie writes, “He fit in one of my husband’s hands.”
Sadie said, “He was so small, swaddled in a white blanket with stripes of pink and blue.” He was early, therefore he couldn’t eat on his own, thus an NG tube was coming out of his nose. But my goodness, was he adorable!
The couple was urged to create a registry after they announced their announcement on social media. In just three days, 55 of the 72 goods they had advertised had been purchased.
Following the adoption of Ezra Lee, which was completed in October 2020, the couple had the cutest family portraits shot, sporting t-shirts that said, “Families don’t have to match.”
Through embryo donation, Sadie and Jarvis became parents to twin twins, Destinee and Journey, in 2021. The black couple, adhering to their family credo, “Families don’t have to match,” gave birth to three white children: two girls and one boy.
There is just one reaction for anyone who judges this lovely family: love is the strongest foundation there is.
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