Sara Pascoe has admitted she completely gave up on the idea of having children before her husband Steen Raskopoulos urged her to go down the IVF route.
The comedian, 43, who has been open about her fertility struggles, welcomed her sons Theodore, two, and Albie, 13 months, via IVF.
But Sara said there was a time she completely gave up on the idea of ever becoming a mother, until her hopeful husband Steen insisted they try one more route, IVF.
Speaking on Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Spinning Plates podcast, she said: ‘I had given up on having children, I honestly thought once I was past 40, that was my line of “okay now I just won’t have children”.
‘My mum calls me a medical miracle that I could have children in my 40s through IVF.’
Sara Pascoe, 43, has admitted she completely gave up on the idea of having children before her husband Steen Raskopoulos urged her to go down the IVF route
The comedian, who has been open about her fertility struggles, welcomed her sons Theodore, two, and Albie, 13 months, via IVF
She added: ‘My husband was the person who was really keen to try, because I sort of just said “I’m done”. And he just said well can we just try even harder.
‘I think he was worried about a space of sadness in our life, where I was very convinced that we could adopt and foster.
‘I desperately wanted to be generative and be apart of the community. I felt I could fit it with those things.
‘I was so convinced that love just grows and I think we still would like to adopt later on, it’s really important to me. And I think we would like to have more children.’
The star also revealed why she has no ‘regrets’ about having an abortion at 16-years-old, despite finding out would have struggle conceiving when she was older.
She said: ‘I got pregnant at 16 when I was at college and I absolutely knew that I didn’t want to have a child then. My mum offered to look after the child but I didn’t want it.
‘I did [have a termination]. I remember when I was 36 I was going “Oh wow it would have been 20 then”.
Speaking on Sophie Ellis-Bextor ‘s Spinning Plates podcast , she said: ‘I had given up on having children, I honestly thought once I was past 40, that was my line of “okay now I just won’t have children”
But Sara said there was a time she completely gave up on the idea of ever becoming a mother, until her hopeful husband Steen insisted they try one more route, IVF
The star also revealed why she has no ‘regrets’ about having an abortion at 16-years-old, despite finding out would have struggle conceiving when she was older (Sara’s husband pictured with her two sons)
‘I was absolutely adamant that’s what I wanted to do. It wasn’t an easy experience but it was definitely an easy decision.
‘And actually when I was going through that process of infertility, I questioned a lot whether that was my chance of being a mum. But my answer is always yes that was the right decision [to get an abortion].
‘I wasn’t like “Oh god, I’ve made a wrong choice here”.’
Last year, Sara opened up on her fertility issues impacting her stand-up comedy and her fear of turning down work after her baby was born.
Before giving birth, she had struggled to conceive and centered a lot of her comedy around being infertile.
After having her baby, she then changed her material to reflect being a mother, admitting to being ‘complex’.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Sara explained: ‘As human beings, we’re all inconsistent. Something can be true at one point in your life or career, but not true later on.
‘When I did Out of Her Mind [the BBC2 sitcom in 2020], I was at a stage of my life where I’d got my head around the fact that I was infertile and I really leant into that in the show.
Sara revealed the news in 2023 that she was pregnant after experiencing fertility issues while trying for a baby (pictured in September 2023)
Sara described how failing to conceive had a negative impact on her, exacerbated by the ease in which other couples around her fell pregnant.
‘Then a year later, I had a baby [via IVF]. People who felt close to my narrative said, ‘Who are you, then?’ And it was like, ‘Sorry, people are really complex!’
‘When I was infertile, I was really defensive and now I’m a mummy, I do mum jokes. I’m an over-sharer – I’m comfortable with it, and with the discussion that comes after.’
Opening up to Women’s Health UK, she said: ‘What bothered me in my thirties was not knowing if I was going to have kids.
‘My worry was: my life is really great now, but I don’t want to regret [not being a mum] when I’m 50.
‘It was like making a hypothetical decision based on a sadness I hadn’t felt yet. The way society ties women’s success to marriage and babies weighed heavily on me; I think women are complicit in reinforcing it.’
Sara described how failing to conceive had a negative impact on her, exacerbated by the ease in which other couples around her fell pregnant.
