Pregnant Liz McClarnon, 44, reveals the toll of undergoing eight rounds of IVF in three years that left her 'broken, gaining weight, and living in hope'
The Atomic Kitten star, who announced in May she is expecting her first child at the age of 44, revealed how she coped with the hormonal imbalances she faced.
A full cycle of IVF takes around three to six weeks to complete and hormone medications play a crucial role in stimulating the ovaries to produce multiple eggs and prepare the uterus for implantation.
Taking to Instagram on Monday, Liz uploaded a montage of snaps from the past few years which detailed her treatments with husband Peter Cho as well as the side effects of the medication.
Liz captioned the video: 'After 8 IVF cycles within 3 years, as you can imagine, I've been on hormones more often than not.
'I just wanted to share how it can look. Sometimes normal and sometimes very not.'
Liz's clip began with herself looking drained as she mused: 'sometimes you could tell', before cutting to an energetic shot of herself captioned: 'sometimes you couldn't'.
She then shared a video of Peter helping her with her injections on their first attempt at IVF, explaining that 'life carried on as normal'.
As the cycle continued and she needed more injections, she confessed: 'I started to gain weight... of course that didn't matter'.
Yet she admitted she ended up feeling 'a little bit broken' as the cycle continued.
The video then showed Liz receiving her final injection and making one last trip to the fertility clinic where she was filmed with 'the look of hope'.
Liz and Peter started their IVF journey early on in their relationship, as Liz explained that they were both conscious of her age - 40 at the time they met.
In 2022, the couple had three failed embryo transfers, which took a mental and physical toll on Liz. 'The first time we did it, I thought, "This will be it,"' she recalled to The Mirror.
'But by my third cycle, it was obviously very different. When that one didn't work, I was really quite sick and I was in a dark hole.'
'I'd put on so much weight but I didn't want to tell anyone why, because I didn't want the IVF to become my identity, my whole personality.'
The couple decided to take a break before their 2023 wedding before trying again, but toward the end of 2024 they suffered two heartbreaking miscarriages following their first successful cycles.
Liz explained how she felt she was 'done' after the last loss and Peter supported her decision.
'Peter was absolutely on board with that, he didn't say anything other than, "This is your body and I'll support whatever you decide you want," which was a huge thing for me. I felt so bad emotionally, it was really tough'
After a Christmas spent with her family back home in Liverpool though, they decided to try again and happily found out she was pregnant in the New Year.
She announced the news publicly in May, sharing a video sitting on a park bench before turning around to reveal her bump.
During the clip, she said: 'I've been keeping a secret from you, and I've mostly kept myself off social media because sometimes it was hard to smile.
'But after years of sometimes quite painful IVF and dark times, I'm pregnant! We feel like we've been given the world.'
Liz captioned the post: 'I started to record a video of me just telling you but I got too emotional so I thought I'd just hide behind this little announcement instead.
'I just can't believe we're here. So many have been through exactly what I went through and worse. ❤️
'I want to share what I can and add my voice and ears to those who already help others understand or deal with all that comes with IVF and loss after so much hope.
'I've been a part of some beautifully supportive communities. I'm so grateful.'
In June 2024, Liz revealed the identity of her husband Peter as they celebrated their first wedding anniversary.
The fiercely private singer took to her Stories with two snaps of her handsome spouse, after his face was previously masked by confetti i n the photo from their big day.
Alongside a snap of Peter in the sunshine, Liz wrote: 'Guess what?! I've been married to my perfect match for a whole year, I love you Peter Cho!'
They tied the knot in the Lake District, with the guests including Liz's former bandmate Natasha Hamilton.
How does IVF work?
In-vitro fertilisation, known as IVF, is a medical procedure in which a woman has an already-fertilised egg inserted into her womb to become pregnant.
It is used when couples are unable to conceive naturally, and a sperm and egg are removed from their bodies and combined in a laboratory before the embryo is inserted into the woman.
Once the embryo is in the womb, the pregnancy should continue as normal.
The procedure can be done using eggs and sperm from a couple or those from donors.
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that IVF should be offered on the NHS to women under 43 who have been trying to conceive through regular unprotected sex for two years.
People can also pay for IVF privately, which costs an average of £3,348 for a single cycle, according to figures published in January 2018, and there is no guarantee of success.
The NHS says success rates for women under 35 are about 29 per cent, with the chance of a successful cycle reducing as they age.
Around eight million babies are thought to have been born due to IVF since the first ever case, British woman Louise Brown, was born in 1978.
Chances of success
The success rate of IVF depends on the age of the woman undergoing treatment, as well as the cause of the infertility (if it's known).
Younger women are more likely to have a successful pregnancy.
IVF isn't usually recommended for women over the age of 42 because the chances of a successful pregnancy are thought to be too low.
Between 2014 and 2016 the percentage of IVF treatments that resulted in a live birth was:
29 per cent for women under 35
23 per cent for women aged 35 to 37
15 per cent for women aged 38 to 39
9 per cent for women aged 40 to 42
3 per cent for women aged 43 to 44
2 per cent for women aged over 44
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