Pregnant Atomic Kitten star Liz McClarnon, 44, reveals gruelling IVF toll from feeling ‘broken’ to weight gain
PREGNANT Atomic Kitten songstress Liz McClarnon has revealed her gruelling IVF toll from feeling “broken” to her weight gain.
The Eternal Flame vocalist, 44, revealed the happy news of her pregnancy in May after spending two decades trying to conceive.
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A full cycle of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) takes around 3 to 6 weeks to complete. It usually follows 6 steps, depending on the type of treatment you’re having.
Taking to Instagram on Monday, Liz uploaded a series of snaps from the past few years which revealed her treatments with husband Peter Cho as well as the side effects of the medication.
Liz captioned the video: “After 8 IVF cycles within 3 years, as you can imagine, I’ve been on hormones more often than not.
“I just wanted to share how it can look. Sometimes normal and sometimes very not.”
Liz’s video began with herself looking drained as she mused: “Sometimes you could tell.”
Then she cut to an energetic shot of herself captioned: “sometimes you couldn’t.”
She then shared a video of Peter helping her with her injections on their first attempt at IVF, explaining that “life carried on as normal.”
As the cycle continued and she needed more injections, she confessed: “I started to gain weight… of course that didn’t matter.”
Yet she admitted she ended up feeling “a little bit broken” as the cycle continued reports The Daily Mail.
The video then showed Liz receiving her final injection and making one last trip to the fertility clinic where she was filmed with “the look of hope.”
Liz said of their three failed embryo transfer attempts in 2022: “The first time we did it, I thought, ‘This will be it.
“But by my third cycle, it was obviously very different.
“When that one didn’t work, I was really quite sick and I was in a dark hole.”
She said to MirrorOnline: “I’d put on so much weight but I didn’t want to tell anyone why, because I didn’t want the IVF to become my identity, my whole personality.
What happens during IVF (in vitro fertilisation)
A full cycle of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) takes around 3 to 6 weeks to complete. It usually follows 6 steps, depending on the type of treatment you’re having.
Your doctor should discuss the options with you and explain each of these steps before any treatment starts.
- You use an injection or nasal spray every day for 2 to 3 weeks to stop your ovaries producing eggs naturally. You’ll have an ultrasound scan to check if the medicine has worked.
- Once your ovaries are no longer producing eggs, you’ll inject yourself every day for 2 weeks with medicine that increases your egg supply. You’ll have tests or scans to check how well it’s working.
- A doctor at the clinic collects your eggs using a needle inserted through your vagina. This takes around 20 minutes and you’ll be offered medicine that makes you sleepy (a sedative).
- Your partner is asked to give a sperm sample in a private room, usually while your eggs are being collected. If you’re using donor sperm, it will be ready in the laboratory.
- The eggs are fertilised with the sperm in a laboratory. The clinic will call you the next day to let you know how many embryos have been made and how many they might be able to use.
- After a few days, an embryo is put in your womb using a thin tube inserted through your vagina. If you have more than 1 embryo, your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of putting in more than 1 embryo.
If any suitable embryos are left over, they may be frozen for future IVF attempts. The clinic will discuss this with you and let you know about any additional costs, such as embryo storage.
“I was still doing shows and I’d see the comments online talking about me.
“I remember one said, ‘She’s getting really thick,’ and others were like, ‘She’s unrecognisable.’
“I tried to remember that those people didn’t know what was happening, but it was hard.
“I just felt broken after the third time, so we took a break before the wedding.”
Liz and her husband Peter got married two years ago in the Lake District.
Yet towards the end of last year they suffered two tragic miscarriages.
Happily, the couple are now on the road to being parents, with Liz taking precautions due to her age classifying it as a “high risk” pregnancy.
BABY REVEAL
Liz looked glowing in the clip posted to social media in May announcing her pregnancy to the world.
The captions over the video read: “I’ve been keeping a secret from you, and I’ve mostly kept myself off social media because sometimes it was hard to smile.
“But after years of sometimes quite painful IVF and dark times, I’m pregnant!
“We feel like we’ve been given the world.”
Liz also wrote a heartwarming message next to the video, which read: “I started to record a video of me just telling you but I got too emotional so I thought I’d just hide behind this little announcement instead.
“I just can’t believe we’re here.
“So many have been through exactly what I went through and worse.
“I want to share what I can and add my voice and ears to those who already help others understand or deal with all that comes with IVF and loss after so much hope.
“I’ve been a part of some beautifully supportive communities. I’m so grateful. I am so grateful!”
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