HOPEisode: Megan’s Story
On this episode, Sonia and Jessica read a HOPEisode story submitted by our listener Megan. Megan welcomed her miracle baby girl in April of 2023, at the age of thirty seven. Listen as we share her infertility struggles and journey to geriatric mama-hood that led her to create her new newsletter called The Balance, which is filled with her thoughts on navigating the balance of family and career. The Geriatric Mamas also share Gordon & Tana Ramsay’s fertility journey, Sienna Miller’s pregnancy announcement and the meaning of ‘sexy menopause’.
Topics discussed in this episode:
Megan’s Story (13:22)
The Ramsay’s Story (22:40)
Sienna Miller Is Pregnant At 41 (34:07)
What’s Sexy Menopause And What Are The Symptoms?! (39:59)
“I was told that I would most likely never be able to carry a baby.”
Megan with her miracle baby girl.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Here’s The Link to Subscribe to Megan’s Newsletter: The Balance!
A monthly+ newsletter filled with the musings of an advanced maternal age mama navigating the balance of family and career. Stories, reflections, lessons learned, favorite life hacks, and more.
Hell's Kitchen star Gordon Ramsay and his wife Tana struggled to conceive following their 1996 wedding, so they turned to IVF.
"I suffer from polycystic ovaries and Gordon has a low sperm count, which is probably down to the kitchen – the hours, the stress, the heat. So we had IVF, which made me feel like a complete failure," she told The Guardian. It was successful and they welcomed their eldest daughter Megan in May 1998, shortly followed by twins Holly and Jack.
Megan was just 11 months old when Tana became pregnant with Holly and Jack, who were seven weeks premature when they were born in January 2000.
"Seeing them become little chubby, healthy babies within the first year was a true blessing and I will always be grateful for the determination they showed and their feisty characters," she wrote on Instagram in 2020.
After turning to IVF for their first three children, Tana admitted it was a surprise to find she had fallen pregnant with Matilda, known as Tilly, naturally. "I was so happy. I felt: I can do it. I did this by myself," the doting mother said, but she added that she had concerns about parenting four children under the age of two!
"We knew we wanted a large family," she told The Herald in 2008. "But for it to happen that close together is amazing. When I discovered I was expecting [our fourth child] Tilly I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, how am I going to manage?' But you do." Tilly was born in November 2001.
Following a 15-year break, Gordon and Tana fell pregnant with their son Rocky, but they sadly suffered a miscarriage at 20 weeks.
During an appearance on James Corden's The Late Late Show, Gordon shared the news that he was expanding his family when asked about raising his four teenagers.
"We have three girls and a boy… and one more on the way," said the Kitchen Nightmares star, adding: "I'm a little bit nervous. The baby's due in September. Obviously I'll be happy with another girl… but four girls, four weddings, four sweet 16s and four boyfriends."
However, Tana revealed she lost their son shortly after Megan's 18th birthday. "A happy picture taken of us celebrating Megan’s 18th, I was just under 20 weeks pregnant. Little did we know, a few days later I would be holding our little boy Rocky - born with a strong heartbeat, but too little to survive.
"Although it’s 7 years today, it still feels like yesterday. We all miss you everyday. We love you Rocky, forever in our hearts. I couldn’t do this without my family, you are all everything to me xxxxxxxx," she wrote next to an Instagram photo in July 2023.
On New Year's Day in 2019, Gordon shared a video of his children each saying "Happy New Year!" to the camera before stating: "And guess what, Happy New Year because we’ve got another one coming!"
The camera panned to Tana's blossoming baby bump as his kids cheered and he jokingly exclaimed: "Oh my lord!"
Oscar Ramsay was born in April 2019, with Gordon sharing a photo of his newborn next to the message: "After 3 baftas and one Emmy... finally we have won an Oscar."
The couple revealed they were cautious to fall pregnant again, with Gordon telling the MailOnline: "I’ve never, ever felt as vulnerable as I did when my son Oscar was born." He added it became a "healing" experience for the family that helped them get "closure" following the trauma of losing Rocky.
Their final child came as a shock to fans since they didn't announce they were expecting until after he was born!
"What an amazing birthday present please welcome Jesse James Ramsay, 7lbs 10oz whopper!!" he penned as Tana held him in her arms while Gordon gave him a kiss on the head.
He also revealed they were "done" with children, despite Tana previously stating she would have babies into her 70s. "One more bundle of love to the Ramsay brigade!! 3 boys, 3 girls… Done," he added.
Meanwhile, Tana wrote on her own Instagram page: "It’s been a nerve-wracking 9 months but we’ve made it and we have been blessed with this little bundle."
Gordon had hinted at the pregnancy back in September, stating on the Dish podcast: "It's like going to school, going out for dinner in two buses. And secondly, I'm going to be the oldest [expletive] at school. 'Who's your grandad?' And what about sports day? The egg and spoon race. What am I going to do? So, I'd love another one, but no."
The chef revealed back in 2021 that they were "contemplating" having another baby, adding that they were inspired to do so after welcoming baby Oscar.
"We discussed having another baby. I said it was a great idea," he said in an interview with The Mail’s You Magazine. "She said: 'Well, let’s start planning'. So I’m like: 'Oh my god, just pause for two seconds. I’m going to be the oldest dad at school, what’s going to happen on sports day?'
"But it’s something we’d still consider because it’s been such a joy spending time with Oscar."
*The couple hasn’t revealed how they conceived baby Jesse, but their story is amazing.
Sienna Miller in Vogue Magazine.
Sienna Miller has confirmed that she is expecting a baby girl with partner Oli Green.
The actress, 41, shared the news while appearing on the Winter 2024 cover of Vogue magazine for which she bares her blossoming baby bump.
American Sniper star Miller also posed for an inside spread alongside her daughter Marlowe, 10 and Green, 27.
Accompanying the candid snaps is an interview in which Miller admits that her first-born, from her relationship with actor Tom Sturridge, 38, has been angling for a sibling for some time.
She also said that her impending motherhood had forced her to address her own prejudices about being an older mother. "I’d love to get to a point where I didn’t feel the need to make a joke of my being older and having a baby, to show I’m in on the joke," she told the publication.
Speaking on the subject further with a video for Vogue, she admitted that pregnancy had been "unplanned" and "a total surprise and biologically was something I was able to do." (yahoo.com)
A December 14th CNN Article states:
Actress Sienna Miller has spoken out about the “judgment” she’s faced becoming a mother again at the age of 41, and the “misogynistic” narrative around her 14-year age gap with her partner.
The star of “American Woman,” who is expecting a baby girl with 27-year-old actor Oli Green, condemned the “double-standards” around the issue.
“I think that people are comfortable with a way of living that has existed for many years, which is very misogynistic and patriarchal,” Miller told Vogue’s podcast earlier this month.
“Me being the older woman in a partnership with a younger person, or being pregnant over 40 - and that-that’s ‘irresponsible’ and ‘the poor child’ - it’s such double standards and… I think it’s so unquestioned in people’s minds,” she said. “But it’s absurd.”
“I just find that judgment… it’s so one-sided and it’s so sad,” Miller added.
Already the mother of 11-year-old Marlowe from a previous relationship with actor Tom Sturridge, Miller’s second daughter and first with Green is due early next year.
In an interview with British Vogue, published Wednesday, she described the fatigue at “having to keep up with the conversation surrounding her age.
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Financing For IVF & Other Fertility Treatments:
When it comes to financing in vitro fertilization, most Americans can’t afford to pay out of pocket for the full procedure. The average cost for one cycle of IVF is from $10,000 to $15,000, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, and currently, only 20 states have laws that require insurers to either cover or offer coverage for fertility treatments.
Making financial trade-offs and saving for IVF is the best-case scenario, but for those eager to move forward without adequate savings, financing may be the answer.
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