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"It was a pretty tough six years of trying to have my son," said the actress, who welcomed her son Ever via surrogate in August 2022
Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is getting real about her experience with in vitro fertilization (IVF).
In an interview with PEOPLE over the weekend, the actress -- who welcomed her son Ever via surrogate in August 2022 -- reflected on her "tough" fertility journey, revealing she estimates she spent "over a million" on fertility treatments.
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View Story"I only did eight cycles of IVF, but that doesn't include the amount of IUIs I did and every other kind of imaginable treatments that you could imagine for fertility," said Bailon, 40, who shares Ever with husband Israel Houghton. "So it was a pretty tough six years of trying to have my son."
When asked how much she believes her years of fertility treatments cost her, she said, "easily over a million."
"And that is not realistic for the average person," she added. "And I recognize that."
The Real alum previously spoke out about how she struggled to get pregnant.
"I think so many people are very insensitive to that, in the sense [that] I know you guys are like, 'Is she pregnant?' 'Her face is fuller' -- FYI I've always had a really chubby face so that's not what it is," Bailon-Houghton said on an episode of The Real back in 2018, per PEOPLE.
"I think that as an audience we should be sensitive to the fact that everybody doesn't get pregnant right away," she added. "I think for myself I thought it would happen so easily for me and it just hasn't happened that way."
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Bailon-Houghton said at the time that she was "at peace" knowing "it'll happen when it's God's timing and I believe in that and I have faith in all of that."
"But it can be really discouraging and it can be really frustrating," she explained.
In August 2022, the talk show host and her husband revealed the exciting news that they had welcomed their first child via surrogate. Bailon-Houghton announced the news on Instagram at the time, while also touching upon her fertility struggles.
"Our baby boy is here & we are so in love! If you have followed our love story… you know that our journey to baby has been very challenging - But God is true to His word and His promises," she wrote. "We have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months."
"He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage," she added. "Everything. All we feel is joy and overwhelming love & gratitude. Grateful to God, to our angel surrogate and to all of our friends and family who have stood with us for over 5 years on this journey. He’s here and we have never been happier to lose sleep! #HappilyEverHoughton 🤍"
