The great American soccer star Carli Lloyd shares her experience of IVF to get pregnant: “It’s really a miracle”
American soccer legend Carli Lloyd opened up about her struggle with infertility and using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to get pregnant as she announced she is having her first child.
Lloyd detailed her pregnancy journey in an article for Women’s health. She talked about the disappointment she felt for months trying to get pregnant and at the same time feeling like she was in a “race against the clock: my 40-year biological clock.”
Lloyd wondered why her body was “failing me” after treating it like a temple for years while helping the U.S. women’s soccer team win World Cup titles and Olympic gold medals. She began her IVF journey in April 2023, but she hit a snag when she was told three embryos survived after she had 20 eggs retrieved.
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Carli Lloyd attends PaleyLive: A Conversation With FOX Sports: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 at Paley Center For Media on June 12, 2023 in New York City. (Joy Malone/Getty Images)
“So it was a waiting game that we literally had no control over,” he added. “And it’s hard. I felt all the emotions during my career (stress, worry, fear, anxiety), but I had never felt all the emotions that IVF brought on. I felt completely out of control. It’s an indescribable roller coaster unless you go through it “
Lloyd said she hoped she could get pregnant and be able to work at the Women’s World Cup “and everything would be absolutely perfect.” She conveyed that she was far from that.
She said she and her husband, Brian Hollins, waited until October 2023 to attempt the embryo transfer. She said she did everything she needed to do to try to help the transfer go smoothly, but waiting was “torture” for her.
Lloyd said he got a call from his doctor again — more bad news.
“I wasn’t pregnant. I felt sick to my stomach,” Lloyd said. “He was heartbroken for us. He said that even when all these steps are taken, there is only a 60% chance of a successful transfer with genetically normal embryos, and sometimes it just doesn’t work.
“He suggested that we move forward with another recovery, as now was the time to obtain as many embryos as possible for future children. That afternoon, I had to put a smile on my face, wipe away tears and record some content for social media. “Life went on.”
Lloyd said he began to doubt everything he consumed. He said that his emotional state was different and he spent many nights crying.
Former U.S. soccer player Carli Lloyd poses with the Women’s World Cup trophy during a trophy promotion event in Wellington, New Zealand, on July 14, 2023. (MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images)
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That didn’t stop her from trying IVF a third time. He said that this time he changed his focus and spent more time with nature and meditating through journaling instead of worrying about things he ultimately couldn’t control. She said she and her husband took a trip to the Bahamas in December and discovered that four embryos met the six-day threshold and two were genetically normal.
The next transfer process began in January with another planned trip to Arizona. He was able to get blood tests while he was traveling. The next day the results arrived.
Lloyd eventually became pregnant.
However, the soccer great said he wasn’t exactly out of the woods yet. She had to do a few more rounds of tests and her doctor expressed concern about a possible miscarriage. Lloyd said he continued doing what he did to calm himself: journaling, nature and putting his faith in God.
Lloyd said he would come back every week to get an update on the baby and each time there was a heartbeat. After 10 weeks, she graduated from the fertility clinic to become an obstetrician-gynecologist.
On Tuesday he shared his story with the world.
“It’s still hard to believe I’m pregnant. It truly is a miracle and we are so excited to be parents!” she said.
Carli Lloyd looks on during a Legends tournament ahead of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 at the Center Sportif Emilie Antoine on February 27, 2023 in Paris. (Joe Maher – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Lloyd added that she wanted to share her story using IVF to show “other women that it’s okay to fight.”
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“It’s okay to feel broken and hopeless, but never give up and keep going.”
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