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Whitney Port has opened up about the “financial stress” of her ongoing fertility journey.
The hills The 39-year-old alum recently detailed the staggering cost of growing her family while undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy. In an episode of her podcast With Whit, The reality TV star estimated that she and her husband, producer Tim Rosenman, will spend $200,000 in hopes of having their second baby.
Port explained that the couple had turned to surrogacy after she suffered multiple miscarriages. However, she shared that she is currently undergoing another round of egg retrieval via IVF with a new surrogate after her former surrogate suffered two pregnancy losses of her own.
In an interview on the podcast, the fashion designer revealed that simply going back to find a new surrogate will cost the couple $15,000. “Can you believe it? That's just the cost of finding a new surrogate, not counting the surrogacy fees!”
Port then calculated how much her IVF and surrogacy process will cost in total. “The whole thing will probably cost us about $200,000,” she said. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I know a lot of people who have followed me have mentioned the financial stress that comes with this, and it’s real.”
Despite her surprise at the staggering amount, Port admitted that she and her husband “feel very privileged” to have enough “savings” to afford the expensive IVF and surrogacy process. Still, she described how “heartbreaking” it was that getting pregnant is “something that happens to so many people so easily and for free.”
In a post shared to her Instagram on August 6, Port told her followers about her mixed feelings leading up to her egg retrieval. Along with a beach selfie of Port in a blue one-piece swimsuit, she explained in the caption how “awful” she felt emotionally and physically before the procedure.
“The hormones make me feel like I can’t handle anything, that everything is the worst. And I’m nervous because I won’t have quality eggs and I don’t know what all this is going to be for. I’m scared. My energy is nonexistent and I feel like I’m not giving what I should as a wife, mother, sister, friend, coworker, etc.”, she shared.
The MTV star explained that “I feel a knot in my stomach and I’m on the verge of tears/real tears all day long,” though each day her symptoms have been different. “Soon I’ll be ready to feel gratitude again, but I’m not there yet with so much up in the air. I may be pessimistic, but I don’t want to force any feelings either,” Port said, concluding her message: “I can’t thank you all enough for your support and words of encouragement.”
Port met Rosenman while working at The city – an MTV spin-off The hills, which aired from 2008 to 2010, as a producer. They got engaged in 2013 and married in November 2015. Two years later, they welcomed their first child together, Sonny Sanford Rosenman.
The reality star has been open about her fertility issues over the years, revealing that People Port said she suffered her first miscarriage when her son was just two years old. Since then, Port has suffered three miscarriages and one chemical pregnancy.
