Izzy Judd, wife of McFly drummer and Strictly Come Dancing winner Harry Judd, has opened up about the importance of being a team after a miscarriage and their struggles with IVF
Harry Judd and his wife Izzy's second pregnancy is something of a miracle to the couple.
After years of trying naturally, then having IVF, suffering a miscarriage but eventually having 18-month-old Lola, the couple are now expecting their second baby.
And - amazingly - they were able to conceive their second child naturally.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on her show this morning, Izzy, 33, opened up about their struggles to conceive, and credited her hubby Harry, 31, with being so involved.
Having written about her experiences in her new book, Dare To Dream, she said: "I felt that it was important that Harry wrote a chapter in the book because it's very much teamwork, it's both you and your partner that are going through this and often the men can be slightly overlooked.
"I'm very lucky, Harry is very sensitive and we were able to communicate to each other, which I think was so important."
Echoing what many women have said who have struggled with their fertility, Izzy and Harry assumed that there wouldn't be any problems: "We thought we would get pregnant after we got married and it didn't work out that way.
"What followed were very, very lonely months. I think what inspired me to write the book was to give an emotional point of view of what it actually really feels like to go through those struggles. It's a very long journey and a monthly cycle that I'm sure a lot of women will relate to."
Watch Izzy speak exclusively to our friends at Mother & Baby about her upcoming book, Dare To Dream (Credit: Mother & Baby)
The couple eventually decided to try IVF: "In the end we did turn to IVF and I'm so grateful that we did. I remember just looking at Lola when she was born and just thinking I would have waited forever to meet her."
Izzy, who got to the 2005 final of Britain's Got Talent with her string quarter group Escala, explained their IVF journey, and how important she found it to completely trust her doctor: "I think having gone through IVF, I felt the doctor's job was to take over the body, but my job was to look after my mind."
The musician decided to focus on her mental wellbeing by looking into "holistic" approaches: "I tried acupuncture, more gentle exercises, nutrition. I looked at the whole thing, and I looked at IVF from a very different perspective.
"I think people see IVF as three letters that are incredibly frightening, and full of injections, and actually there is something truly magical about IVF if you can switch your mind to think of it slightly differently."
She offered advice to women who may be going through IVF at the moment: "I know it's really tough, but there are moments when we got to see Lola as an embryo on the screen, and there was a moment between Harry and I."
Izzy added that whilst the pregnancy hadn't come about in a traditional way, seeing their baby on the screen made them forgot their struggles:"It wasn't the way we thought, but there she was.
"I remember Harry turning and going, 'It's a girl', and we were both in floods of tears - and I don't think people think of IVF that way. It's a miracle."
Izzy found it difficult to talk about her IVF treatment when she was going through it, and implored other women going through it to open up: "When I was going through it, I found it very, very difficult to talk to anybody, and I think it's really important to find somebody outside of it - not necessarily just your partner - but somebody you can talk to.
"I think when you carry it all yourself it's a very, very lonely, tough time, and however hard it is to speak out about it, I do think when you carry it on your shoulders all by yourself it's even harder."
Izzy, who is due to give birth in September, described herself as "very, very lucky" to have had two lots of IVF work - but one ended in tragedy: "The first one did end in miscarriage, which was utterly devastating, but we were lucky enough to go on with Lola, and then to have fallen pregnant naturally - I wasn't expecting it."
She bravely spoke about the miscarriage that tore apart their world, saying: "I think when you suffer a miscarriage, it takes away elements of the joy you should experience, because you're so nervous, and I felt, 'Oh goodness, not only have I got problems conceiving, can I hold onto a baby?'
"That terrified me. I had to give myself time before I went back for the next round, to truly grieve over what I'd actually just lost."
Thankfully, her story has ended in happiness, and she added: "I always wanted to be a mum, ever since I was a little girl it was absolutely what I just thought would happen."
Lorraine, ITV, weekdays 8.30am - 9.25am.
Have you or a loved one been through IVF treatment? Do Izzy's word resonate with you? We'd love to hear your IVF stories - get in touch via email or head over to our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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