The *NSYNC singer tells ET that he and husband Michael Turchin are now on their 10th IVF attempt while also considering adoption.
After eight attempts to start a family via surrogacy, Lance Bass and husband Michael Turchin finally heard the news they had longed for last August -- egg donor number nine had been successful.
Thrilled to learn they had a baby boy on the way, Bass, 40, immediately started conjuring up images of the child’s appearance, upbringing and even wedding day. However, the couple’s joy came to a blinding halt after they received word that they had lost the baby eight weeks into their surrogate’s pregnancy.
“We unfortunately lost him after eight weeks, which happens to pretty much everyone when you're going through IVF,” Bass tells ET. “I didn't even know that as we were going through this, but we’ve met so many great couples who have the same story. So, you do feel a lot of support knowing other people have gone through it.”
Growing up in Mississippi, Bass dreamed of being a dad from a young age, but later feared his sexuality might prohibit his fatherhood hopes. Tying the knot with artist Turchin in 2014, the couple has relentlessly pursued parenthood, with Bass openly sharing their journey with ET. He admits their latest attempt was somewhat more trying given that it was the first time their surrogate had successfully become pregnant -- which inevitably led to imagining a future with his son.
“You try to trick yourself into not getting excited because you know anything can happen at any time, especially in those first few weeks when there’s a huge possibility that the [embryos] won’t stick,” Bass says. “You keep telling yourself that and trying not to get your hopes up, but you're always going to have those thoughts in the back of your brain where you’re already planning out their lives. Especially once you know the sex -- you can't help but fast-forward over their entire lives and imagine who they’re going to be like, who they might marry and all kinds of stuff.”
“That's the thing that sucks -- you can't help yourself from thinking those thoughts and having this perfect world scenario in your mind,” the *NSYNC singer continues. “Getting over that has been hard. It’s like all these hopes and dreams I had won’t be happening this time. But everything happens for a reason and when it needs to happen, it’ll have to happen.”
Remaining positive, Bass shares that he and Turchin are moving on, having just found their 10th egg donor and planning to proceed with another IVF attempt in coming months.
“It's been a very long process, years in the making,” he says of his road to fatherhood. “There have been a lot of ups and downs … way more downs than ups.”
“Nine did not work, so now we’re onto 10 and hopefully the next time will work,” he continues, optimistically. “I'm trying not to worry about it. Of course, in a perfect world I would love to have my own kids. But if it’s not meant in the cards, then it’s not meant in the cards and there are plenty of kids who need adopting. So, I’m not opposed to going right ahead and adopting if this fails next time.”
In the meantime, Bass has plenty to keep him busy until children do. This week, his podcast, The Daily Popcast With Lance Bass, features interviews with his *NSYNC bandmates in honor of Saturday’s 20th anniversary of their smash 2000 record, No Strings Attached. Convincing JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Justin Timberlake to sit down with him for “open book” interviews was “very easy.”
“All of us guys talk almost daily through text, so it was a simple text like, ‘Hey, guys, let's do something fun for No Strings Attached’s anniversary. I’ll interview you and talk about the album.’ Immediately, everyone was like, ‘I’m in.’ They're very supportive. And, I know they wanted to give fans something special because it's been a while since we've done anything and the fans have been so great to us throughout our careers.”
Bass is also juggling various businesses including his West Hollywood bar, Rocco’s WeHo, a wine trailer franchise, Bubble Tap Trailer, and an upcoming mixers line, J.A.X., which is a collaboration with Vanderpump Rules star Jax Taylor. The name stands for Just Add X (with “X” referring to a consumer’s favorite liquor) and flavors include Strawberry-Basil and Jalapeno-Cucumber.
Bass is also spending 2020 getting a fun movie rolling, based on the true story of two *NSYNC fans who put their lives on hold to follow the boy band on tour.
“This year’s been nuts,” Bass says of his burgeoning workload. “So many of my projects have been moving forward, so keeping them all juggled in the air has been quite a feat. You develop things for so many years, then all of a sudden six of them go at one time and you're like, ‘Oh crap. I didn’t plan on that!’”
See more on Bass below.
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