Anne Hathaway says getting pregnant not always 'all positive'
Anne Hathaway has opened up about her "complicated" journey to motherhood as she considers growing her family.
The Oscar-winning actor is already a mother to Jonathan, five, and Jack, two, with her actor-producer husband of nine years, Adam Shulman, 40.
In an interview with WSJ Magazine, she shared her hopes to have a third child, but admitted that the process isn't always straight-forward.
“I could see us going for another one," she told the publication. "There’s this tendency to portray getting pregnant, having kids, in one light, as if it’s all positive. But I know from my own experience, it’s so much more complicated than that.
“When you find out that your pain is shared by others, you just think, I just feel that’s helpful information to have, so I’m not isolated in my pain,” she continued. “I mean, what is there to be ashamed of? This is grief, and that’s a part of life”.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hathaway reflected on how her life has changed since becoming a mother.
"I didn't feel fully landed and fully here until I was a mom," she explained. "It's not like I was lacking integrity, but it made me want to be completely, on every level, true to my word.
"And that meant stopping any nonsense that I had going on inside myself. And it's little breaks that you give yourself sometimes when you know that you're not being your best self."
Hathaway previously hinted that she may have experienced fertility struggles back in 2019 when she announced her second pregnancy on Instagram.
"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," she wrote alongside a black and white picture revealing her pregnancy bump.
Watch: UK woman becomes mum at age 51 thanks for IVF
When Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia shared the happy news that she was pregnant with her first child at 44, she also used it as an opportunity to discuss her own journey to conception.
Back in 2019, the Torn hitmaker shared a post on Instagram revealing she had been "blessed" with a pregnancy after help from a sperm donor and successful IVF treatment.
“I’m expecting my first child this Autumn. For those of you that know me, this has been something I have wanted for a very long time and I’m blessed that this is possible with the help of IVF and a sperm donor,” Natalie wrote in the Instagram post.
Read more: Chloe Madeley opens up about fertility struggles
The two women aren’t alone in opening up about more complicated paths to parenthood either.
Just this week Jessie J shared her hopes to become a mother "whichever way it happens" after suffering a devastating miscarriage last year and previously being told by doctors she may never have children.
"Becoming a parent, whether it's for six weeks, or your whole life, is such a life-changing experience, and no one can tell you how your journey looks or how you grieve or how you process it – that's not anyone else's business but yours," she said.
Meanwhile, Chloe Madeley recently shared how she considered turning to in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to help her conceive after struggling to fall pregnant for two years.
The 34-year-old personal trainer, the daughter of Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, announced she was expecting her first child with former rugby star James Haskell last month.
But in a new interview with OK! magazine, the couple revealed their fertility journey hasn't been easy.
"We picked up the pace in terms of trying (last spring) and that nervousness turned into utter fear," she explained.
"Like, 'Hang on, I don't want this option taken away from me.' I woke up in the middle of the night and it hit me like a tonne of bricks. And that pushed me into making a decision and that I absolutely wanted to have a family."
Chrissy Teigen has also often discussed the IVF path her and husband John Legend took to welcome their two children, Luna and Miles.
More recently she has been documenting her experiences of going through another round of IVF in the hope of expanding her family.
She also encouraged social media users not to ask women about pregnancy and future baby plans, because it could be a very upsetting question for them.
Read more: Superdrug launches home fertility tests - but experts have concerns
Sarah Jessica Parker has also been honest about turning to surrogacy to extend her family with husband Matthew Broderick.
“Well, you know, we’ve been trying to expand our family for a number of years and we actually have explored a variety of ways of doing so,” she said.
“This was one of the things we discussed with seriousness that had real possibilities for us.”
And some celebrities have also opened up about the ways in which they plan to future-proof their fertility. Rita Ora revealing back in 2017 that she has frozen her eggs in a bid to have children later in life.
Though not everyone will feel comfortable opening up about their parenthood journeys, the refreshing honesty from some female celebrities is encouraging for those going through their own fertility struggles.
Recent research by Public Health England (PHE) found that around a third of women had recently experienced severe reproductive health symptoms, but fewer than half (46%) of the women surveyed had sought professional medical help for their symptoms.
It’s an indication that there is still a certain stigma surrounding women’s reproductive health.
So, celebrities revealing their own experiences are certainly appreciated for shining a light on the subject and helping to encourage women to feel they are able to talk openly about traditionally taboo fertility issues.
