Marcia Cross tried IVF and donor eggs

Published: March 20, 2020

Marcia Cross is a familiar face on US television, starring as the smouldering red-head Bree in popular sitcom Desperate Housewives. But like many women today, Marcia chose to establish her career before having children, at the expense of her fertility. And although she is now a happy mother of twin girls Savannah and Eden, the star has been quick to admit that the journey has not been easy.

In 2006, Cross married stockbroker Tom Mahoney and the couple, desperate to conceive, reportedly skipped their honeymoon in order to begin fertility treatment.

According to Female First, the actress stated: „We decided to skip our honeymoon and try In Vitro after the wedding. I had already been through infertility treatments. It’s very, very difficult to get pregnant in your 40s. It’s costly and tough on your body and your relationship.“

Cross, who gave birth to her twins in 2007, also said that she probably wouldn’t have anymore kids, but couldn’t rule out the possibility of adopting, and admitted she wishes she had become a mother earlier:

“I wish that I’d had my girls in my 30s. Then I could be around longer for them. But they’re an incentive for me to stay healthy, take care of myself, and live as long as possible.“

Contrary to many online sources, Marcia Cross finally conceived thanks to an egg donor and not via In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Fertility specialist Dr. Randy S. Morris has praised the actress’s openness regarding her situation.

Marcia Cross used donor eggs to get pregnant

According to I Am More Than My Infertility, Expo Say cited the star: “I don’t like the average woman being misled into thinking that fertility is something that goes on forever. When a woman gets older, they get a donor egg, which doesn’t make the baby any less beautiful or perfect. One’s own eggs only last so long, and sometimes at 43 or 44 you can have your own baby, but statistically it’s very difficult and expensive. You don’t want to wait that long.”

Dr. Morris urges that it is “deceptive and harmful“ for celebrities in their 40s and 50s to state that they got pregnant using their own eggs when in reality they used donor eggs. The expert questions why it is harmful to make such information public when it prevents millions of women from thinking that their chances of conceiving in a similar situation are higher than they actually are.

“In fact, nationwide there are almost no pregnancies from IVF in women over age 45 who use their own eggs,“ Dr. Morris adds, “The pregnancy rates in women over age 42 using their own eggs is in the low single digits.“

Actress Halle Berry conceived successfully through IVF and through Artificial Insemination and Courteney Cox-Arquette used the former to get pregnant.

Images: Wikimedia Commons

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Published March 20, 2020 by in Celebrities
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14 Responses to “Marcia Cross tried IVF and donor eggs”

  1. saxel95@aol.com

    20. Mar, 2010

    HOORAY and thank you Marcia Cross!More mythbusting like this is needed!

    Reply to this comment
  2. Coralie

    21. Mar, 2010

    If only all celebs were as honest as this! Many thanks to Marcia Cross for lifting the lid on this issue.

    Reply to this comment
  3. Egg Donors

    25. Mar, 2010

    Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

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    • Layla

      28. May, 2011

      Nice to see a celebrity tell the truth for once not like the ones photographed going in and out of “fertility clinics” and later claiming natural pregnancy (mariah carey, jennifer lopez. etc) I guess they were just there to sign autographs? Young women need to know how difficult and expensive these procedures are and MOST are not covered by insurance. Think of your eggs like the ones in the grocery store, they have an expiration date…celebrities over 40 with rare expections are lying that claim natural pregnancies ask any Reproductive Endocrinologist if you do not believe me
      I lost my son (biological) in 2005 and have been trying ever since to get pregnant, plenty of eggs low quality like most eggs over 40…IVF, etc., so expensive we cannot afford it…

      Reply to this comment
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  5. Mom Via Donor Egg

    24. Apr, 2010

    Bravo and thank you. As a fellow forty something mom thanks to donor eggs, the more the myth and secrecy is ended, the less difficult it will be on our children.

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  12. Joy

    21. Feb, 2011

    This is awesome, a celebrity that is honest! Thank-you Marcia Cross!

    My own Aunt had twins at 45 and only after my failed IVF at 40, was I informed by the doctor that she most likely used an egg donor. It was the shock of my life. My Aunt had been lying to her younger nieces and it feels like such a betrayal.

    Her adorable children will never know where they come from, which is a betrayal to them, that is the saddest part.

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  13. [...] nuestra luna de miel para realizar una fecundación in vitro e intentar tener hijos”. Marcia Cross, actriz estadounidense protagonista de Mujeres Desesperadas, decidió, junto a su marid…a los 48 años. Ante las dificultades para quedarse embarazada, no dudó en acudir a una clínica de [...]

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