Why Real Housewives of Atlanta Star Kandi Burruss Decided to Pursue Surrogacy

Kandi Burruss‘ fertility struggles led the Xscape singer to turn to in vitro fertilization to conceive her son Ace, now 2½. But when it comes to baby No. 3, Burruss — who is also mom to daughter Riley, 16, and stepmom to Tucker’s adult daughter Kaela, 21 — is going down a different path.

On Sunday’s Real Housewives of Atlanta, Burruss, 42, and husband Todd Tucker, 45, made a visit to OBGYN (and Married to Medicine star) Dr. Jackie Walters, during which they revealed they were considering surrogacy.

As Burruss explained, she and Todd had been trying to get pregnant naturally and “it is not happening.”

It wasn’t just that Burruss wasn’t naturally conceiving — she was worried about what would happen if she did.

Around the time of her pregnancy with Ace, Burruss had a few surgeries for fibroids, benign lumps or tumors that can cause complications with conception. “I know there was still some fibroids after pregnancy. I feel like it got worse because Ace is two now and nothing’s happening,” she told Dr. Walters.

“After having multiple thyroid surgeries, and still the fact that I have not been able to get pregnant the last two years, I know that I am going to have to do the same process again,” Burruss added. “[I had] a couple of scares during my pregnancy with Ace. I was a high risk and I did have bleeding a few times. So my womb is just, it’s not the best place to have a healthy pregnancy with no issues.”

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Asked what she thought, Dr. Walters called surrogacy “a great option.”

She went on to explain that traditionally only one embryo is implanted, though Burruss explained they had two “from when we got Ace.”

“I only want to do it if we can do them both. I don’t want to leave anybody behind,” Tucker said, adding that if they could only implant one, they might “need two surrogates.”

Remarked Burruss, “That would be crazy.”

“And it’s going to cost you twice as much,” added Dr. Walters. “From $90,000-$130,000 to have a surrogate.”

The steep cost aside, Burruss still seemed game and said she would want to be hands-on with her future surrogate. “I want to be able to know about all the checkups,” she said.

And even though her daughter Riley has been against it, Burruss agreed with Dr. Walters’ assessment that “she’s not comfortable leaving the babies on ice.”

“So we can potentially have two mamas, or one mama with twins,” Dr. Walters said.

Earlier this Month, Burruss opened up to The Daily Dish about surrogacy, admitting the idea was “scary.”

“Todd and I are both nervous about it,” she said. “I think it’s easier for Todd to handle or deal with because as a man he’s used to somebody else carrying the baby. But for me it’s a little bit harder for me to deal with the thought because I’m supposed to carry my own kids in my mind. But, hey, with science, it’s made other options to be able to make it happen.”

The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays (8 p.m. ET) on Bravo.

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