Erin Andrews and Jarret Stoll are enjoying parenthood so much that they’re thinking of trying again.
The 46-year-old sportscaster revealed as much in an exclusive interview with E! News, published on Oct. 12. But while that announcement is usually coupled with excitement, hers was coupled with fear.
“We’ve had so much high with the birth of Mack and how great he’s doing that I don’t want to go back to that place of failure again, and I’m really, really afraid of it,” she recalled of a conversation with her doctor.
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Andrews was referring to their previous experience with in-vitro fertilization (IVF), which began in 2016 after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
She and her husband underwent nine unsuccessful rounds of IVF before pivoting to surrogacy. Despite losing two embryos in the process, their son, Mack, was born in June 2023.
But now she’s questioning if she wants to go through that process again.
“Once you get back on the phone with your fertility doctor and you start talking about the journey again, PTSD all comes back of how crappy you felt, how numb your body gets, just the fear of loss,” she said.
Andrews praises husband for ‘feeling the feels’ with her
Andrews has been open about her traumatic fertility journey ever since revealing it in an essay, which was published to Bulletin on Aug. 25, 2021, just as she was preparing for her seventh round of IVF.
In her most recent interview with E! News, she talked about how that experience impacted her marriage.
“Sometimes men don’t want to talk about this stuff, but they’re also feeling the feels, too,” she said while praising her husband for being “really, really great after we were going through more lows than highs.”
As for any advice she has for couples going through something similar: “You have to be really honest with each other,” she says. “You have to give each other a break. You have to have patience.”
She goes on to explain how “taxing” the journey was for them financially, which only added to the stress.
“There’s nothing about the infertility journey that I would say is great, except your end product. When you are able to have the baby and you’re like, ‘Wow, you were worth it,'” she continued.
Andrews details the importance of having help as a parent
Not many families have the type of nonstop schedule that Andrews and her husband have.
Andrews travels the country every week as the lead sideline reporter for Fox Sports’ NFL broadcasting team. Meanwhile, Stoll works in player development for the Los Angeles Kings of NHL.
Both sports leagues are in full swing right now, with the NFL kicking off in September and NHL starting their season last week.
“We are both in season at the same time,” Andrews says. “It’s a lot and you have to have help.
“And I’m not shy about saying that. And you have to make sure that help works with you and your family and your lifestyle,” she adds.
But even with a full schedule, Andrews still makes time for herself, albeit in the form of exercise.
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“Honestly, it’s a non-negotiable for me,” she said of working out. “It’s just a super big release for me. I need it. Life is a grind. You don’t have to be doing sideline reporting to feel that way.”