Alexis Stewart Talks About Fertility Challenges


Alexis Stewart, Martha Stewart's daughter has been open about her desire to be a mom.

The 41-year-old daughter of Martha Stewart has been trying to get pregnant for two years - spending up to $27,000 a month in the last seven months alone to have a baby.

The divorced talk show host has wanted a baby since she was 37, but has been able to become pregnant.

"But when my mother got into trouble, I couldn't think about it," said Alexis, referring to the stock-deal scandal that sent the domestic diva to the slammer in 2004. "About two years ago, after all that was over, I got back on track."

But getting on track came with a big price tag.

"I'm single now, but having my own kid is the most important thing in my life, so I am trying everything I can: fancy doctors, expensive drugs, high-tech procedures," she said. "Most people can't afford what I am doing, I am really lucky; I know that."

Alexis, who said she was opting for an anonymous sperm donor, told the magazine the first place she went for treatment cost about $10,000 a month.

"When I didn't respond to the drugs after three months, they basically said, 'Don't bother,' and kept asking, 'Why don't you use a donor egg?' Finally, I said, 'You're fired.' "

Since December, Alexis, now like her mom a Sirius Satellite Radio talk-show host, has been going to the New York Fertility Institute in Manhattan, where drugs cost $6,000 - and the doctors and in vitro fertilization procedures about $20,000 to $27,000 a month.

"They give me, like, eight times as many drugs than the other place did to stimulate egg production, then check me every two to four days," she said.

She said once a month she'll inject herself with a drug that causes her to ovulate in 36 hours.

"Just before the 36 hours are up, I go to the doctor's office and they put me under anesthesia and use an 18-inch needle to remove about 10 eggs," she said. "Then, I go home to my apartment in TriBeCa, change and get ready for my Sirius Radio show, 'Whatever.' "

The doctor, meanwhile, fertilizes the eggs, using a technique called intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, which involves poking a hole in each egg and shoving a sperm in to create an embryo, she said.

"I'm using an anonymous donor, but not from a genius bank," she said. "Those are creepy."

After testing the embryos for Down syndrome and other anomalies, the doctor will try to transfer the healthy ones, she said.

"I've had two transfers," she said. "They haven't stuck . . . If there are no healthies, I try to let it go immediately, because you can go crazy. Crazy."

"I'm trying to build up a supply of healthy embryos because, ideally, I'd love to have two kids," she said.

Alexis divorced attorney John Cuti in 2004, explaining they were "completely ambivalent about kids."

"Now, I no longer have the luxury of having doubts," she said. "A child is your legacy. What better thing can you do in life than put a really good person in the world who's going to make it a better place?

"And my mom's just desperate. She has wanted grandchildren forever. Forever! She's always like, 'For my birthday, I would like you to be pregnant.' And I'm like, 'Me, too!' "

SOURCE:NYPOST


Comments

Jessica said…
As a 35 year-old mother of 2 HEALTHY daughters, one who happens to have Down syndrome, I read with mild interest your article on Alexis Stewart's "struggle" to have a baby. When I got to the second to last paragraph, I literally bolted straight up from my lounging position. If Miss Stewart continues to pick and choose which embryos she and her doctors see fit to implant after they "conduct an embryo biopsy for Down syndrome and the myriad other things you might find", I imagine she'll continue to struggle. I can't say I'll have much sympathy for her. I am certain that she is unaware how insulting and hurtful her comments are to those of us whose lives have been blessed and enriched by a child with Down syndrome or any other special need. Our children are not castaways. I would encourage Miss Stewart to implant all of the viable embryos and take what God gives her. Or, if she turns to adoption, why not use her tremendous means to welcome a special needs child into her family. I am sure Grandma Martha would be a great advocate for any grandchild and I think both she and her daughter would be greatly surprised at the path their life would take.
Anonymous said…
Give me a break, Jesspiz. you have a lot of nerve critizing Alexis Stewart for choosing to have only chromosomally normal embryos put into her. It is wonderful that you cherish your daughter who has down's syndrome. But if someone has a choice because the embryos are being screened prior to being placed into her uterus, who can blame them for only wanting the chromosomally normals ones?
Anonymous said…
Hi Alexis,
My name is Nichole and I live in NH. I have been an egg donor 3 times and a successful gestational surrogate mother for a PA couple. I worked with the Fertility Center of NE in Reading, MA. Dr. Vito Cardonne is the head of that clinic. I have 3 children myself and always wanted to be a surrogate. I had about a 5% chance that her and her husbands embryo would take in my body,because the mother's age was 43. It did! I believe I was meant to carry babies. It is the greatest gift anyone can give someone. The Mom in PA that I did this for had what looked like 16 good eggs to retrieve, although at the time of the retriveal they could only take 2 b/c of the HCG levels of the others. So right then and there their chances started to go down hill. They waited all weekend to see if they got an embryo. Two eggs and 2 embryos both implanted in me and 1 took. A very healthy baby girl was born with no complications, weighing almost 9lbs!

So maybe if you have done all that you have you might consider putting your embryos in a gestional carrier's body. I am currently signed on with a company out of California to do it 1 more time. Surrogenius is the name of the company. I would be willing to talk to you if you wanted to try a gesstional carrier; your embryo with me as the incubator.

My email is bluetelescope22@yahoo.com

Good luck and as you said I do agree those shots are not bad at all. Just the last one intramuscular!

Take Care,
Nichole
morganspice said…
Undergoing a procedure which evaluates embryos for health and viability would naturally screen for something like this. If a woman is going to pick two embryos to gestate, why would she pick one that has a tragic genetic abnormality? Down Syndromw is not just genetic diversity that the world is better for experiencing, it is a tragic disability. I applaud you for loving your daughter but no mother who had the choice would wish that on their chihldren, for the sake of the child.

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