MEGAN McKenna has revealed her secret IVF journey after announcing her pregnancy last week.
The reality TV star and singer underwent months of injections to freeze her eggs and implant an embryo.
The former Towie star, 31, revealed she was expecting her first baby with her footballer fiancé Oliver Burke in a sweet video earlier this month.
The former X Factor Celebrity winner has taken to Instagram again in a new video showing Oli helping with her injections, some of which prepared her body for the egg retrieval process and other injections to thicken the lining of her uterus.
Megan explained her journey in a lengthy caption, saying her battle with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) meant she knew getting pregnant wouldn’t be easy.
She said: “We was trying naturally for a while & not falling pregnant..
READ MORE ON IVF
“I wanted to make sure everything was ok in there so we decided to see a fertility clinic.
“When I was younger I was diagnosed with PCOS and knew I should freeze my eggs at some point.
“We went & had a scan and tests and it showed that my ovaries were ok but my womb lining was thin! It was at 5 when it should be at 8 & there was some other issues we needed help with.
“I’m so happy we went to see a fertility clinic or I would never have known as my lining wouldn’t have been thick enough to make a successful implantation.
Most read in Showbiz
“We spoke with our doctor and decided to freeze our embryos first and also have one implanted once my lining was at the right thickness and was nice and healthy.
“I started on medication 3 times a day and injections twice a day …
“After months of getting my lining good I went in for an egg retrieval.
“Everything went amazing we got so many eggs and Oli done his part.
“A few days later I started to get unwell and it turned out I had OHSS. Over hyper stimulation of my overies.
“Very painful and dangerous because my overies were HUGE!
“I had fluid leaking inside my stomach which was making my belly swell & I couldn’t walk it was so painful. Some people just get it.
“I was hospitalised for five days and was now on blood thinners to make sure nothing else bad happened.”
Eggs have to survive both the freezing process and then being defrosted when you want to use them – all this even before being fertilised with sperm to create an embryo for implantation.
Those embryos are also frozen until they are needed, but Megan says some of hers didn’t survive when they were taken out of hibernation.
The brae star admited: “Sadly we didn’t get many embryos in the end 🙁 they didn’t survive the thawing process.
“But we got enough to make this happen… A few months after getting myself better and fit!! We decided it was time to have our AAA embryo implanted! It was incredible.
“I was back on the meds and injections as my womb lining had dropped again. I was also taking baby aspirin to stop miscarriage.”
Megan went on to say: “A month later when my lining was good we had our baby put in it was the most magical experience seeing it go into me being placed safely with embryo glue to make sure it sticks! And it did!
“I can’t thank our doctor Mohammed and nurse Jade and acupuncturist who was amazing throughout the whole process.
“I feel so lucky to be where I am and couldn’t have done it without them.
“Thank you to Oli for being my rock and my at home doctor and my mum for always being there for me.”
Many fans praised the star for sharing her experience.
One replied to her post: “So lovely to see IVF being spoken about! So happy you have your happy ending.”
Another said: “So brave, honest and raw to talk about this. This could help so many. I’m so glad you got baby stuck, wishing you a healthy, happy pregnancy and future.”
‘The One’
Football star Oli, 26, got down on one knee on June 14 of last year – after just five months of dating.
Megan and Oliver got engaged weeks after making their red carpet debut as a couple.
They shared a romantic video of the proposal in Montenegro.
Rise to fame
Megan shot to fame on Ex On The Beach (2015–2016) but received wider attention for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother (2016).
But it was on The Only Way Is Essex that she really became a household name, thanks to her tumultuous relationship with Pete Wicks.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She was on the ITV2 reality show from 2016 until 2017.
The star launched her music career in 2018 when she released her debut studio album, Story of Me – and won the X Factor the year later.
