Like so many who hoped to conceive in 2020 but were derailed in their fertility plans by the pandemic, Khloé Kardashian hasn’t been able to give daughter True a baby sibling like she had hoped. In a clip from the Ellen original digital series Lady Parts with host Sarah Hyland and OB-GYN Dr. Sherry Ross, Kardashian discussed her IVF journey — which has actually included True’s dad, Tristan Thompson, all along.
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Kardashian explained that she has gone through IVF three times and froze about a dozen eggs. When they were defrosted to mix with sperm from Thompson, none of them survived, however.
“We realized that my eggs aren’t strong enough to be frozen. They should be mixed immediately with sperm to make embryos,” she said during the episode. “So I actually have made embryos.”
But the COVID-19 pandemic delayed her plans to use those frozen embryos.
“If you do need assistance in fertility, it’s much more challenging during COVID,” Kardashian said. “They say, ‘If you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans.’ So the one time I’m actually really trying to plan, God is saying, ‘Uh-uh, you can’t make your plans like this!’”
Coming from such a big family with lots of siblings of her own, who now also have many kids of their own, Kardashian has always wanted to have a big family. And with True turning 3 soon, she is on a tight schedule to give her a playmate.
“My plan was to have kids closer in age,” she added. “But with COVID and everything, my plan’s been a little delayed. I definitely do want more kids. I have so many brothers and sisters. I think it’s such a blessing — especially during these times — to have a family member or people that you can play with and rely on and just have a buddy through life.”
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Experts in the reproductive health and fertility space have been crunching the numbers and say we’re very likely to see the effects of fertility treatments delayed due to the pandemic long after certain parts of “normal” life resume. Looking at available data from 2018, ARC Fertility examined what the pause means for the number of patients missing fertility treatment cycles in the U.S. As seen in their infographic, they found that, on average, “3,554 babies will not be born for each week of the COVID-19 pandemic suspension,” noting, “Some patients will have their chances for their own biologic child reduced by the delay, and for them this is a tragic consequence of COVID-19 that must be added to the societal burden of this pandemic.”
When the shutdown first happened last year, we noted that jokes about a “coronavirus baby boom” were uncool and tone-deaf to anyone who needs help to conceive. For those who had just found out that due to the pandemic, doctors, hospitals, and clinics would be canceling their fertility treatment procedures for the foreseeable future, it was no laughing matter. “It just felt like a slap in the face,” one woman named Victoria told SheKnows. “It just felt like another reminder of what my body can’t do. And people are laughing about it in a time where it’s being taken away from me.”
Plus, while predictions about a Corona baby boom began as soon as we were all advised to stay inside our homes, the implication that couples were going to be gettin’ it on and procreating like bunnies just didn’t materialize. In fact, we actually had a COVID-19 “baby bust.” Data from states and hospital systems that keep track of births in near-real-time showed that there were significant drops — up to 8 percent — in birth rates compared to the same period from one year earlier.
Kardashian and Thompson hope to be one of the families who reverse that trend by bringing another baby into the world soon. In a teaser for the final season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the two discuss giving True a sister.
“Being in quarantine with her, I felt bad,” Kardashian tells Thompson in a clip. “She had no friends, she had nobody, because they were isolated from each other. True is getting older. I just feel like it’s now time to have another kid.”
For his part, Thompson is on board: “Yup, that’s what I like to hear.” Sounds like there could soon be another Kardashian pregnancy announcement!
Childbirth is nothing like in the movies, as these beautiful photos show.
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