The actress also revealed she recently underwent a hysterectomy and an oophorectomy.
Olivia Munn has revealed that she recently underwent a hysterectomy and oophorectomy, as well as a procedure to retrieve and freeze eggs to expand her family with John Mulaney.
In a new sit down with Vogue, the actress, 43, shared that she and her 41-year-old comedian beau -- who share 2-year-old son Malcom -- decided to freeze her eggs after she received her shocking cancer diagnosis and before she decided to move forward with the procedures to remove her ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes. Munn previously revealed that she underwent a double mastectomy after cancerous masses were discovered in both of her breasts.
"After my diagnosis, we decided to try one more round of egg retrievals and hoped it was a good month. John and I talked about it a lot and we don't feel like we're done growing our family, but didn't know if I would have to do chemotherapy or radiation," she told the outlet, explaining their decision to potentially add to their family via surrogate in the future.
The X-Men: Apocalypse star said she had already gone through two egg retrievals at the ages of 33 and 39 and that she found the quality of her eggs differed greatly from month to month, meaning she and Mulaney put all their stock in the final round. Ultimately, the doctors were able to obtain seven eggs from the procedure, although the viability was in serious doubt as she shared that doctors told her only about one in 10 eggs yield a healthy embryo for women in her age range.
Luckily for the comedian and the actress, their procedure resulted in two viable embryos, a relief for the parents who hope to expand their family. For Munn, however, she said the good news after the surgery was two-fold as it also gave her peace of mind in her cancer treatment journey.
"John and I just started crying," she told Vogue of finding out the procedure retrieved more than one embryo. "It was just so exciting because not only did we get it in one retrieval, but it also meant that I didn't have to keep putting myself at risk. It was just amazing."
From there, the Chuck alum said the decision to move forward with the procedures to remove her ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes in order to ditch her estrogen-producing organs. Munn's Luminal B breast cancer grows in the presence of naturally occurring estrogen.
According to the Mayo Clinic, there are four main groups that breast cancers are divided into based on recently developed genetic tests of the cancer cells themselves.
The groups are based on whether or not the cancer cells have receptors that use naturally occurring hormones -- estrogen and progesterone -- to promote their growth and development. Cancers that grow through estrogen are ER positive, while cancers with receptors for progesterone are PR positive. Cancers without hormone receptors at all are known as HR negative.
As her cancer is ER positive, Munn was originally treated with a hormone-suppressing drug called Lupron, which she said completely sidelined her both as a mom and a human being.
"The side effects of the medication hit me almost immediately," she shared. "It was next-level, debilitating exhaustion. I would wake up in the morning and almost immediately need to get back into bed."
She added, "If you asked Malcolm, 'Where does daddy work?' He'd run to his [Mulaney's] desk, and if you asked him, 'Where does mommy work?' He'd point to my bed. It was so sweet. But at the same time, it was breaking my heart because this is his image of me."
The side effects of the medication prompted the actress to follow up on her alternative options, which is how she and her medical team landed on the hysterectomy and oophorectomy. She told Vogue that the decision was a difficult decision but "best" for her, Malcolm and her partner.
"It was a big decision to make, but it was the best decision for me because I needed to be present for my family," she said. "I had friends try to cheer me up by saying, 'Malcolm’s not going to remember this. Don't worry.' But I just kept thinking to myself, 'I'm going to remember this, that I missed all these things.' It's his childhood, but it's my motherhood, and I don't want to miss any of these parts if I don't have to."
Just a few weeks ago, Munn opened up in an Instagram Story about how her son with Mulaney -- who she began seeing in 2021 -- was committed to uplifting her spirit amid her grueling cancer treatments.
"This moment was last summer when I had already had three surgeries and recovery -- mentally and physically -- as pretty rough," she explained in text shared over the clip. "The smallest, silliest moments like this lifted me up every single time."
ET spoke with Munn while she was expecting back in 2021, where she shared that she was excited to become a mom and welcome a baby into the world alongside her then-partner of less than a year.
"I'm just excited about meeting whoever it is, and bringing a little person into this world," Munn said at the time.
For his own part, Mulaney -- who was previously married to Anna Marie Tendler and shared an apathy towards parenthood -- recently spoke about his son fulfilling a part of his life he didn't realize was empty and the lessons he and Munn share with Malcolm.
"I went, 'Oh, there you are,'" he recalled while talking with David Letterman on his Netflix show, My Next Guest Needs No Interruption. "Like, you're that thing I couldn't find. I was looking in not good places, and then, oh, there you are."
He added, "Olivia and I try to show Malcolm how much we love each other."
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