Surrogacy was heartbreaking: Sunny Leone talks IVF, adoption struggles
What's the story
Actor Sunny Leone, who is a mother to an adopted daughter Nisha and twin boys Noah and Asher born through surrogacy, recently opened up about her challenging journey to parenthood. Speaking on a podcast with actor Soha Ali Khan, she shared her experiences with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy. Khan also talked about her own pregnancy journey during the conversation.
Soha's experience
Host Khan on her pregnancy
Khan started the podcast All About Her by discussing her pregnancy. "Kunal (Kemmu, her husband) and I never really prioritized having children. I was 35 when we got married and I was aware of the biological clock, but we didn't take it very seriously," she said. "But by the time I became 38, I knew that if we wanted to become parents, we had to be intentional."
Soha's struggles
She tried to conceive naturally first
Khan added, "We tried naturally for about 6-8 months, but nothing happened. Then, I started tracking my ovulation, consulted a gynecologist." "And then one day, I missed my periods... I was pregnant. But even in those 6-10 months, the journey toward becoming pregnant was definitely not easy."
Modern solutions
Medical advancements for aspiring parents
She also highlighted the advancements in medical science for aspiring parents. "We are living in a time where science, medicine, and empathy have come together to offer more choices and more hope than ever before," she said. "IVF, surrogacy, adoption...these are not just alternatives today they are empowering options that have allowed so many people to experience the joy of parenthood in their own way."
Leone's experience
Leone on opting for surrogacy and IVF
When Khan asked about Leone's decision to opt for surrogacy and IVF, the Jism 2 actor said, "There wasn't really a plan but the original plan was having one through surrogacy and then in a few years, maybe another, and we wanted to follow our careers." "So, we thought of looking into it and trying it. We harvested my eggs and we made these six beautiful embryos out of them."
Adoption process
Two boys are with her now, revealed Leone
Leone and her husband Daniel Weber, not only froze their embryos but also applied for adoption simultaneously. "We had four girls and two boys. We always thought about having a girl first," she revealed. "That didn't work out; four girls went. Then we switched doctors, and the two embryos that are two boys are with me." She also revealed how emotionally taxing it was to continuously get the bad news four times in a row.
Emotional support
Emotional support helped Leone-Weber through tough times
Leone added, "Daniel and I were there for each other for emotional support. We didn't tell anybody. We wanted to figure this out on our own first." "He is pretty supportive and we had the same feelings toward having a child." Interestingly, the day they got through the successful transfer of the last two embryos was also the day when they matched with a kid up for adoption, and the couple went from having zero to three children!