Astronaut Kellie Gerardi shares her journey with secondary infertility : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1138x854+475+39/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F29%2F59%2F4c502d4a405b8ca17562b510d5a1%2Fgettyimages-1339569589.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1138x854+475+39/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F29%2F59%2F4c502d4a405b8ca17562b510d5a1%2Fgettyimages-1339569589.jpg" class="img" alt="Kellie Gerardi walks the runway for Rise's Survivor Fashion Show on Sept. 10, 2021 in New York City." fetchpriority="high"/> Struggling to have a second youngster, astronaut Kellie Gerardi makes use of her social media presence to let others know they don't seem to be alone. She's pictured above in 2021 in New York Metropolis. Roy Rochlin/Getty Photos for NYFW: The Reveals cover caption

toggle caption

Roy Rochlin/Getty Photos for NYFW: The Reveals Six white roses sit in a glass vase on Kellie Gerardi's kitchen counter. On digital camera, for hundreds of thousands of followers throughout her social media platforms, Gerardi slowly picks out stems till solely three stay. Every of the ultimate three light white roses represents a viable embryo, a bundle of hope in her battle towards secondary infertility.

Gerardi was the ninetieth lady in historical past to fly to house. She's additionally a youngsters's creator, a researcher, a Swiftie and a mom. Her newest mission is one she's been engaged on for years: to offer start to a second youngster.

"So far, I have been pregnant 5 occasions with solely Delta as my youngster," she mentioned. "It has been a tough journey and it is this combine in secondary infertility of each understanding that it is attainable for me to conceive and carry a being pregnant to time period, clearly, however having lengthy intervals of time not with the ability to get pregnant [or] after I do, having a loss that's simply devastating every time."

From astronaut life to motherhood, Gerardi shares her life on-line. Her movies doc all the pieces from her house analysis on biomedical and thermodynamic fluids to journeys together with her mother and daughter — often rocking her chunky star necklace and a few kind of space-themed sweater with multicolored stars, moons or aliens.

With over 2 million followers on her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Gerardi's social media presence has been an area to rejoice ladies, science and girlhood. Lately, with Gerardi brazenly sharing her fertility journey and experiences with in vitro fertilization — a therapy that extracts eggs and fertilizes them with sperm exterior of the physique — her socials have change into a communal house for others going by means of related struggles.

"There have been so many highs and lows simply throughout the course of [of IVF]," she mentioned. "The egg retrieval, that was my first time going by means of it. And I feel I used to be just a bit bit emotionally unprepared."

Gerardi started IVF within the fall of 2024. Just one viable embryo got here out of that first spherical. It transferred efficiently, and she or he shared the fun of being pregnant proudly and broadly on-line. In February, the day earlier than her thirty sixth birthday, Gerardi attended one ultimate ultrasound.

Gerardi recalled, "I went into my commencement appointment, or what was presupposed to be my commencement appointment from my IVF clinic at that nine-week test up … and in that appointment was simply shattered to listen to my physician and the nurses within the room inform me that there was no heartbeat."

She left the clinic by means of a discreet exit she hadn't seen earlier than and shared the information in a real-time replace to her social media neighborhood. Gerardi is dedicated to being clear together with her neighborhood, and meaning sharing each the great and the dangerous.

After taking time to heal, Gerardi and her household determined to strive once more. And she or he was simply as dedicated to sharing each step of the IVF course of this time round — particularly her pleasure and hope.

"Nothing is ever assured in IVF," Gerardi mentioned. "I am not unaware that it's a distinct risk that both the identical factor occurs once more, which might be equally devastating, or transfers do not work … no matter it might be. I do know the dangers, and I do know that nothing is a given. And but, I am nonetheless permitting myself [to] exist on this stage of hope and enthusiasm and optimism."

Gerardi has a second house mission scheduled for 2026. Whereas she's nonetheless determining the perfect timeline for herself and her household, these three embryos are set to be frozen and she or he has excessive hopes for a switch sooner or later.