After sharing her in vitro fertilization (IVF) journey on Instagram, Amy Schumer gave her followers a joyful update. Over the weekend, Schumer thanked fans for sharing their fertility stories and let them know she’s feeling “lucky” right now after her first round of IVF.
Since giving birth to her son, Gene, last year, Schumer has been open about her struggles to conceive baby No. 2. Last month, Schumer revealed she was doing IVF, asking her followers for advice and support. "I’m a week into IVF and feeling really run down and emotional," she wrote on January 9. “We are freezing my eggs and figuring out what to do to give Gene a sibling.”
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Now, Schumer is happy to report that she has completed her first round of IVF and she is happy with the results. "Hey! So IVF went like this for us. They retrieved 35 eggs from me. Not bad for the old gal right? Then 26 fertilized! Whoah right?" Schumer wrote on Instagram. "For all of those we got 1 normal embryo from that and 2 low level mosaic (mosaic means there are some abnormal cells but can still lead to a healthy baby). So we feel lucky we got 1! But what a drop off right?"
Part of the reason Schumer wanted to share her IVF story was to let others know it is a journey often full of ups and down. The success rate for IVF is about 48% for women under 35 — and that percentage decreases as you age, according to Fertility IQ.
“So many women go through many rounds of IVF which is painful and mentally grueling,” Schumer wrote. “I heard from hundreds of women about their miscarriages and struggles and also many hopeful stories about how after rounds and rounds of IVF it worked!! It has been really encouraging."
Schumer isn’t the only celebrity to open up about her fertility journey. Michelle Obama and Savannah Guthrie also revealed that their children were conceived through IVF. Last year, Kim Kardashian West said that her doctor forbade her from doing IVF again after using it with her son Saint. This led her to use a surrogate with her two other children, Chicago and Psalm. All of these stories show that there is no one way to become a parent.