Faith Ford Opens Up About Fertility Struggles

Richard Drew/AP

The road to motherhood may have been bumpy thus far for Faith Ford but the 44-year-old actress says she’ll get there, someday. During her first marriage Faith admits she “was not interested” in having kids, but her mindset changed after meeting current husband Campion Murphy. “I immediately wanted to have children,” she says, “and didn’t realize that maybe I’d have problems.” After enduring “a lot of fertility issues” including “a couple of surrogates,” Faith says that she is keeping her options open — and her spirits up.

“Who knows. I might adopt or whatever. I’m a mothering-type person. It’s not a matter of if it’s going to be, but when. How, I don’t know, but it’s going to be.”

Faith can next be seen in the Hallmark Channel original movie A Kiss At Midnight, airing Saturday, December 27th at 9 p.m. EST.

Source: Macon.com

Comments

Robyn on December 26th, 2008

As someone who has struggled with infertility problems for years before turning to adoption to build my family, I’m always grateful when someone in the public eye opens up about their experiences, too. I’m hoping that this will lead to more public attention and less stigma associated with infertility. After all, it’s a problem that unfortunately affects many. Best of luck to Faith.

Anna on December 27th, 2008

I don’t understand it when these older women say they didn’t realize they could have problems conceiving. It’s general knowledge that your chances go down after 35.

I wish her all the best in getting the family she wants.

Kirrily on December 27th, 2008

Best of luck to Faith and her husband.
As another infertility sufferer I agree, it is great when people speak out about the struggles and how it isn’t always easy to say you want to have a baby and then be pregnant the next month.
After nearly two years now I have started speaking out about it to my family and friends.
There is nothing to be ashamed of, and the support is much welcomed.

Jane on December 27th, 2008

I loved her on Hope and Faith. I hope she can have the child she wants soon!

Gabrielle on December 27th, 2008

A “couple of surrogates”? I can’t imagine the heartbreak that has to bring! Good lord, Faith, I hope you get the family you have obviously worked so hard to achieve…

Cheryl on December 27th, 2008

Anna, I’m not sure it was general knowledge that a woman’s fertility declines after 35 when these women were growing up and learning about reproduction. Actually, it begins declining awhile before then, but 35 is when it starts declining quickly. I grew up in the 80′s and it was never included in any of the sex-ed or health classes I ever had to take.

Even now, whenever I’ve said that a woman’s fertility declines at a certain age, someone has always pointed out a celebrity like Nancy Grace, Geena Davis, Holly Hunter, Cheryl Tiegs, Beverly D’Angel0, etc. who all had twins at 49 or 50 to counteract my statement.

None of these celebrities were public about using IVF with Donor Eggs (fertility clinics generally won’t use a woman’s own eggs after 40 b/c they’re frequently not viable at that age) so people think these women are conceiving naturally, whenever they decided they wanted to, and having multiples, to boot. I’m surprised at the number of women I’ve met IRL who think that if Geena Davis can do it at 50, so can they!

I realize that a woman’s chance of having multiples increases with age, but her chance of conceiving declines dramatically enough that all these twins & triplets can’t be attributed to advanced maternal age.

I wish Faith & her husband all the best in achieving their dream of a family.

SY on December 27th, 2008

I remember seeing on IMDB that Faith had a son, then it was removed…was this a surrogate situation gone bad? As for the declining fertility, it all depends upon the person. I had my kids at 37 and 39 years old, but have a friend that has been trying to get pregnant for over 4 years and she started trying at 31 years old. It’s genentics and a woman’s egg quality as much as it is her age.

CelebBabyLover on December 30th, 2008

Cheryl- Actually, Marcia Cross has been very open to using IVF, and so has, I believe, Geena Davis. Neither lady has confirmed or denied using donor eggs, but for all we know, they didn’t. Doctors rarely use a woman’s own eggs after 40- Rarely does not equal never! Also, it’s possible that some of these women had some of their eggs frozen when they were younger, and used those to get pregnant.

Also, if they DID use donor eggs to get pregnant, isn’t it possible that they’d rather have their kids find out that fact from them rather than from the media?

erica on June 18th, 2009

i had both my children by invetro with my own eggs at 40 and 43. they are perfectly fine. i also had a miscarriage at 38 (22 weeks gestation) and an early miscarriage at 45. younger is definitely better, unless this has changed in the last year, it has not been feasible to freeze unfertilized eggs or every celebrity would have an arsenal. only embryos can be frozen.