In a candid post, the Olympic gold medalist shares that she and her husband have been trying to have a child since 2018.
Tara Lipinski is sharing a heartbreaking secret about her road to motherhood.
On Tuesday, the Olympic gold medalist took to Instagram to reveal that she and her husband, Todd Kapostasy, have been trying to conceive a child since 2018 and have faced a tough fertility journey.
The post led with a picture of Lipinski asleep on the couch, gripping two pregnancy tests.
"Well-this will be quite the life update. I've been keeping a bit of a secret for the last 5 years and that’s definitely been a strange feeling for me. I've always felt so comfortable sharing my life with all of you-so to have gone on this journey privately for half a decade has been isolating to say the least," the message began. "However I needed that isolation to find a way to cope and to adapt to my new normal. I was so overwhelmed and wasn't emotionally or mentally ready to bring more people on board. My life turned upside down and became completely consumed by our heartbreaking and often devastating fertility journey."
The 41-year-old former skater revealed that for the last five years, she has undergone multiple unsuccessful rounds of IVF, miscarriages and surgeries, leading to what she calls a lonely infertility journey.
"My husband and I have seemingly hit every roadblock imaginable from the moment we began this process in 2018 and since then I have been under anesthesia 24 times, have had 4 miscarriages, 4 D&C's, 6 failed IVF transfers, 8 retrievals and a diagnosis of endometriosis that led me to 2 major surgeries," she wrote. "It has been an excruciatingly painful journey that has been filled with loss & dealing with the grief that comes along with that. We are lucky to have the ability to make our own embryos but pregnancy is another story."
Lipinski shared that she and Kapostasy -- whom she married in 2017 -- will share their story in a joint podcast called Tara Lipinski: Unexpecting, which will premiere Aug. 29.
"But I’m finally ready to talk about it and my husband and I couldn't think of a better way to tell our story than through a podcast the two of us have created together," she said. "We have been working on this for quite some time. Our conversations have brought up a lot of past emotions but at the same it’s been healing to dive in and close some of these chapters together. Nothing will be off limits as I wanted to have the most candid conversations that we could- this is by far the most vulnerable I’ve ever been in my life. My hope is to truly bring more awareness to the world of IVF, pregnancy loss and couples struggling to build a family."
She continued, "Most people have heard about IVF but not often the cruel existence this forces upon its patients when things don't go as planned. And many many people are on this very same tumultuous rollercoaster. Infertility can be one of the loneliest clubs to be a part of and my hope is by telling my story maybe we can help other couples going through similar journeys not feel so alone. Im glad I have you guys along for the ride now."
Continuing to be candid with her followers, Lipinski shared the story behind the picture she used with her post.
"This was taken last September by Todd who found me asleep clutching these tests that I would stare at everyday for hours," she wrote over the image. "6 transfer about to be my 4 miscarriage of just another embryo I worked so hard to get."
In an Interview with People, Lipinski revealed that despite everything she has been through, she is still encouraged to become a mother.
"Through it all, I haven't given up," she tells the magazine. "My urge to become a mother is what had gotten me through and has kept me going. I've never wanted anything more."
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