The former ‘Real Housewives of Orange County’ star and her fiance, Slade Smiley, open up to ET about their road to parenthood.
Gretchen Rossi isn’t giving up on her fight to become a mom.
“I read somewhere that a doctor said to a patient once, 'Do you want to have a child or do you want to be a mother?'” the Real Housewives alum tells ET. “I think those are two very different sentiments, and I think at the end of the day, I have to trust that God knows what the journey is for us, and what is best for us, and whether that's a biological child, whether that's adopting a child, or if that's not having a child -- whatever that course shapes up to be, I have to trust that the universe knows what's right for us, in our lives.”
ET chatted with the 40-year-old TV personality and her fiance, Slade Smiley, at the 3rd Annual Vanderpump Dog Foundation Gala in Los Angeles on Thursday. The couple has been on a four-year-long journey to get pregnant. Smiley has two sons from a previous relationship.
“I think for each individual person, it's different,” Rossi says of becoming a parent. “For me, I haven't stopped this journey of trying to have a biological child for four years. It's been four very long years. So, yes, I would say probably I wouldn't stop at anything, but at the same time, there's a time where you have to go, 'OK. It's not meant to happen biologically. Maybe we should look into other options.”
For now, Rossi is committed to conceiving via IVF, a process that takes a major toll on her body. She regularly posts about the tasks involved on social media.
“It's been a very long, arduous process, but I think it's really important that people continue to speak out,” she shares. “Look how great, with Michelle Obama recently coming out and talking about it. It's pretty amazing to know that seven million women struggle with infertility. So, I'm honored that people want to listen to my journey and understand our journey, and I'm glad that we have a voice that we can speak about it. Yeah, we're excited. We're feeling very positive and very good about it.”
“I don't think so many women should suffer in silence,” Smiley offers. “So, I've been very proud of Gretchen, about the fact that she's using this as an opportunity to educate and learn. And the truth of the matter is, a lot of the time, when people are going through IVF, it's the guy, it's not the woman. Yet, they seem to suffer, they seem to be afraid to discuss it. So, I mean, it's been a pretty fascinating journey for us. It's been so educational. I just hope that our stories and what we've learned are helping other people.”
“There's gonna be good news,” Rossi promises. “We're praying and hoping there's good news. Yeah, we are very confident in our doctor … We've had really good results thus far in our IVF process.”
But don’t expect to see the couple’s journey on TV. For now, they say they have no plans to return to the show that made her famous, The Real Housewives of Orange County.
“Listen, I never say never, but it would take probably a lot of money for them to convince me to come back to that crazy,” she explains. “So, we'll see … show me the money!”
Rossi is onboard with one of her former co-stars returning to the series, though: Alexis Bellino, who recently split from her husband, Jim.
“I could see maybe Alexis, because she went through the divorce and she's going through some stuff with that, a transition in her life” she notes. “I mean, the girls just always hated me, so maybe that's what [fans] want to see, just the girls hating on me again, so I don't know.”
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