Elizabeth Banks opens up about her surrogacy journey

Elizabeth Banks opens up about her surrogacy journey

Shared from IVF Babble

US actress and producer Elizabeth Banks has opened up about her struggle with infertility on a podcast to discuss her new film, Call Jane.

The 48-year-old spoke to Spotify’s Call Her Daddy podcast, hosted by Alex Cooper, and revealed she had to grieve not being able to carry her children.

The American actress, who has starred in many films, including The Hunger Games and Pitch Perfect, told Alex that despite having two children, she felt a massive shame about her journey to becoming a parent.

Elizabeth, who has been married to her husband, Max Handelman, said: “I’ve never been pregnant, and when I was young, I thought it was because I was really good at taking my pill, which I definitely was.

“But I have no idea. A small percentage of women have unexplained infertility, and that is me. I am in that category.

“I always had plenty of eggs; I never had trouble making embryos; they did not implant.

“For whatever reason, my uterus is hostile. I don’t know what is going on, but they will not stay in there.

“So I had a broken belly, which is what I told my kids. Mummy had a broken belly.”

She went on to explain the grief she felt when she realised she would have to get the help of a surrogate to become a mother

She said: “I had to grieve for the loss. And I had to really work through that before I could invite someone else to help me make my family.

“It was confusing, too because my husband and I could make these beautiful baby cakes and I just didn’t have an oven to bake them in.

“And so it was really my fault. Do you know what I mean? It was on me. And I felt that sincerely; I’m the one with the problem.”

Elizabeth and Max welcomed their first child, Felix in 2011 and their second child, Magnus in 2014, both via gestational surrogate.