However, Cox didn't give up until she had a child of her own. And after IVF treatments, she was finally blessed with one.
With her roles as Monica Gellar in F.R.I.E.N.D.S and Jules Cobb in Cougar Town, Courteney Cox cemented her fame in the Hollywood industry with her talent and wit. For all the times she had us in splits as the impeccable flatmate of Rachel Green, she was also working through personal battles.
The Bedtime Stories actress has been quite vocal about the agony of infertility and having multiple miscarriages. In an interview with NBC in 2004, she said, "...it was really weird because everyone in my family has kids. I mean, they pop out like it's nobody's business. No one in my family has a problem. So to me, I just thought this would not be a problem at all.”
She suffered through seven miscarriages when she was still with her ex-husband, David Arquette! And through all the pain, she remained strong and continued her life undeterred and had us all laughing and cheering for her onscreen characters. It was only after losing seven fetuses that she identified the underlying condition that ended her pregnancies—excess antibodies that attack the fetus.
She told New Beauty, "About four years ago [at the time of the publication] I found out I have something called an MTHFR gene mutation, which dictates how my body methylates. I suffered miscarriages, my dad died of a really rare cancer, and depression runs in my family, which made my doctor think I should get this gene checked out. I discovered that I have the worst version of this mutation and my body doesn’t methylate the way it’s supposed to. Once I found out how I could absorb nutrients and protect myself from toxins, my whole life shifted."
She explained to NBC how she could get pregnant but not maintain it. During this time, she still had a job to make others laugh. When asked how she managed to work (on her sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S) and be funny at a period of her life that was marred by her genetic inability to carry a baby to term, she said it was "hard." "Sometimes, like I remember one time I just had a miscarriage and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) was giving birth. It was like that same time. Oh my God, it was terrible having to be funny.”
But no matter what, she was determined to become a mother and she did — to her now 15-year-old daughter Coco Arquette whom she shares with her ex, David Arquette. However, it was a long and difficult journey. Speaking to NBC, she said, "So now I decided to do in vitro and I did that twice. And then, give myself shots of heparin everyday — that's a blood thinner. Take a baby aspirin.” It took two in-vitro fertilization treatments and a change in diet to finally have her daughter at 40.
And she wanted to share her story. On Busy Tonight with Busy Philipps, Cox revealed why she started the Facebook Watch series, 9 Months With Courteney Cox, according to USA Today. The 55-year-old mentioned that her fertility issues were vital in launching the docuseries that looks at 10 different couples on their journey through pregnancy.
In the series, the mother-of-one also shared her own journey to full-term pregnancy and birth on her docuseries. "I didn't want to give up," she said. "I just think it's important to get things out there so people can realize they're not alone." "I had a bunch of miscarriages,” Cox admitted on camera. “But I was lucky enough to have my little girl, Coco, who I had through IVF.”
And now, she's ready to have another baby but not with her ex-husband but with her current boyfriend, Irish musician Johnny McDaid, reported Huff Post. “I would love to have a baby now. I mean, I could carry someone else’s egg. I may be one of the older people doing it, but I would love to, with Johnny that is,” she said. She added, “I know it’s crazy, but I would.”
Well, here's to the actress carrying her dreams of motherhood forward!
References:
https://www.newbeauty.com/blog/dailybeauty/11013-courteney-cox-beauty/
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2279517852372226
