Olympia Valance expecting first child after IVF

Olympia Valance is expecting her first child with husband Thomas Bellchambers.

The Australian model and actress, 31, announced the joyous pregnancy news in an Instagram post on Saturday while candidly opening up about her fertility struggles.

In photos shared to her social media account, Thomas, 35, cradled Olympia’s growing baby bump as she held a positive pregnancy test. 

‘I’ve been hiding away for the past 5 and a half months to make sure this wasn’t all a dream,’ she began in her caption.

‘But you kept growing and growing and it’s starting to look like our dreams have finally come true.’

‘I’ve been as open and honest as I could about our struggles with infertility and I truly believed that this day wasn’t going to be possible for us. So when I saw this positive pregnancy test I have to admit, at the time, I wasn’t jumping for joy. I was full of fear because that’s all I’ve known. But as the weeks kept going by it was hard to wipe the smile off our faces.’

The former Neighbours star noted her excitement of starting a family while thanking their supporters who stood by them during their ‘darkest days’.

‘To the little one we never thought we’d meet, we can’t wait to hold you in our arms. You were worth every tear, every setback, and every prayer,’ she continued.

‘To all the people who supported us through the darkest days, thank you. I know I wouldn’t have made it to this point without the strength of my family and friends who managed to hold me up when I was falling apart.’

Olympia also paid tribute to families who have experienced fertility issues or pregnancy loss. 

‘It is also incredibly important for me to recognise that although this is the best news in the world for Thomas and I, my heart aches for anyone that sees this and feels pain,’ she said.

‘It was so hard for me to write this because it feels like I’m caught between two worlds. It’s not an easy road and I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy. It’s one hell of an emotional roller coaster.

‘Stay strong, keep fighting, but most importantly don’t forget to be kind to yourself.’

Olympia’s post was met with well wishes from her friends and fans in the comments.

‘Congratulations lovely xxx,’ AFL WAG Rebecca Judd wrote.

”Prayers answered’ is a beautiful way to put it. Heart bursting for you both,’ Channel Seven presenter Kylie Gillies added.

In a recent interview with Stellar magazine, Olympia confirmed she is 25 weeks pregnant, while opening up about her IVF journey.

‘I did get pregnant the first couple of times that I did IVF, but I couldn’t hold them,’ she said, revealing she has a ‘bicornuate uterus’ — a rare condition in which the uterus is heart-shaped with two sides instead of being one hollow cavity.

The Playing for Keeps star detailed numerous miscarriages before she considered using birth control, but finally fell pregnant with their ‘miracle baby’.

‘Thomas and I were being very careful, using protection. It was like we were just dating again and then one slipped past the goalie and it was very, very depressing. It wasn’t a happy moment,’ she added.

‘I was a couple of weeks away from getting an IUD put in. Just our luck. And then eight weeks went by and nine weeks, 10 weeks, the 13-week scan went by, and it just kept growing and growing and growing. So it’s the miracle baby. I’m pregnant.’

In May, the former soap star said the lengthy IVF process left her worn out and she reached a low point following a tragic miscarriage.

‘My body was exhausted and my mind was spent,’ she said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

‘I’ve always been an outgoing, happy person and found myself becoming a hermit. I needed a full reset.

In July 2023, Valance revealed that sh
e miscarried twin babies during the Covid pandemic and later that year revealed she had a second miscarriage at six weeks.

‘Thomas and I miscarried twins, right in the middle of Covid, which as you can imagine was excruciatingly painful,’ she said in the clip.

‘Since then we haven’t been able to conceive. That would be two years of really trying,’ the actress continued.

‘For any woman or couple trying to get pregnant, there is no worse pain than every month looking down at that negative pregnancy test. Your heart breaks in two.’

Olympia said she was reluctant to ‘go down the IVF path’ as she has ‘never been good with hormones’.

‘Adding more hormones to my raging cycle scares the s**t out of me,’ she confessed, but said she was not seeing a fertility specialist. 

‘I want babies and I will do everything in my power to get them,’ Olympia concluded.

Olympia and football player Thomas married in June 2022. 

The stars walked down the aisle and tied the knot at a picturesque ceremony attended by 250 family and friends in Daylesford, Victoria.

The couple later enjoyed their honeymoon in Greece where they were joined by sister, Holly Candy. 

Olympia, who rose to fame when she joined Neighbours as Paige Smith in 2014, and Tom got engaged in October 2021. 

The pair began dating in June 2019 after meeting him on the ultra-exclusive celebrity dating app, Raya.