ITV newsreader says she feared husband would be 'better off' without her amid infertility struggle
Andrea Byrne has candidly opened up on her infertility struggles and reveals she felt like her husband, former Wales rugby international Lee Byrne, would be "better off" without her during the turmoil. The ITV Wales newsreader was told by doctors that, most likely, she would not be able to carry her own pregnancy - leaving her feeling "guilty".
"I remember those feelings all the time of thinking [Lee] would be better off without me," she said. However, Andrea and the sportsman did welcome their miracle daughter, Jemima, in 2019 naturally - something which "defied science". Talking to the BBC, Andrea admitted that at the height of their struggles, she would tell her husband to "go and find somebody else" who could have children, to which he would assure her were on the journey together.
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She explained: "I feel very conscious when I'm telling my story, that maybe it's easier to tell because we did get the ending that we had. But I still feel it's important to talk about, because I know how lonely we were during that journey."
Despite Andrea and Lee beginning trying for children after their wedding day in 2012, they later went to a fertility clinic and found an issue in the thickness of her womb lining, which was preventing them from conceiving. The couple went through multiple rounds of IVF and tried a number of different methods to get pregnant over the years, with Andrea admitting there were positive tests but 'losses'.
Eventually, doctors recommended surrogacy as the only option, with Andrea and Lee open to exploring that. However, she found out just moments before presenting the news that none of her embryos were viable for surrogacy.
In a twist of fate just months later, Andrea fell pregnant with Jemima, something no one expected. Admitting that she is grateful 'every day' for Jemima, Andrea often shares family snaps of the trio to social media as they embrace life as parents.
Ever since, Andrea has been open about her struggles and now has a podcast called Making Babies.
She has also written a new book, ‘Desperate Rants & Magic Pants- Our Fertility Story, which she described as 'cathartic' to get the ordeal out on paper. The book not only includes Andrea and Lee's journey but also fellow celebrities who have joined Andrea on her podcast. Gabby Logan and Geoff Norcott also feature in the release.
