Trinny Woodall has opened up about her heartbreaking battle to become a mother after enduring 16 rounds of IVF and suffering multiple miscarriages before welcoming her daughter.
The 61-year-old TV presenter became a mother for the first time in 2003 when she gave birth to Lyla with her late ex-husband Johnny Elichaoff, who died in 2014, and she’s now spoken about the agony of trying to start a family later in life.
During an appearance on Fabulous magazine’s No Parental Guidance podcast, she explained that she even continued filming What Not To Wear while suffering miscarriages.
She fronted the show with Susannah Constantine who she says helped her discover her maternal instincts.
Trinny told the podcast: ‘I did have 16 rounds of IVF – expensive. It worked the second time, but I had miscarriages.’
Trinny went on to reveal she kept her pain private despite experiencing losses while filming her TV projects.
Trinny Woodall has opened up about her heartbreaking battle to become a mother after enduring 16 rounds of IVF and suffering multiple miscarriages before welcoming her daughter
The 61-year-old TV presenter became a mother for the first time in 2003 when she gave birth to Lyla with her late ex-husband Johnny Elichaoff
She said: ‘The first time, you feel that trickle and go to the bathroom and you think, ‘OK’ – and your heart just sinks. I don’t remember if I did tell anyone. I was quite private, always separating work and what was going on.
‘I definitely would have told [co-star] Susannah [Constantine] , but I don’t know if I would have told the production crew. I just carried on because otherwise what else do you do?
‘Also, when you do IVF, it could be that you’ve put two eggs in and one egg is coming out. You don’t know [if one has survived]. So there’s that sort of sense that maybe… that tiny bit of hope.’
She went on to explain that she got pregnant again but lost the baby at 16 weeks and then ‘had to go and give birth’.
The experience was made more difficult as at the time Johnny was in rehab at the time for issues relating to pain meds.
When she did eventually conceive she had a scan ‘every few weeks’ to make sure everything was okay.
Lyla was then born six weeks early with Talipes – an uncommon condition that causes a baby to be born with one or both feet curved into an unusual position. It affects around one in 1,000 babies.
After various treatments Lyla was fine by the age of two.
Speaking on Fabulous magazine’s No Parental Guidance podcast, she explained that she even continued filming What Not To Wear while suffering miscarriages (seen with co-host Susannah Constantine)
The experience was made more difficult as at the time Johnny was in rehab at the time for issues relating to pain meds (Trinny and Johnny seen together in 2008)
After Lyla, Trinny says she tried again to have another child with another five rounds of IVF, but that she never got pregnant.
Trinny and Johnny had married each other in 1999 after meeting in rehab, before divorcing in 2009 after which they remained on good terms.
Johnny, who battled an addiction to painkillers for 20 years, had ‘lost everything’ in a series of failed oil investments before his death.
Back in October 2023 Trinny told how she believes going through 16 rounds of IVF triggered her early menopause.
She told The Shift podcast she was offered antidepressants after seeing ‘lots and lots’ of medics after feeling like her ‘mojo had gone’.
However, she claims she was later told by Dr Erika Schwartz, author of The Hormone Solution, that she had actually undergone an early menopause caused by IVF, with each round having supposedly shaven a year off her cycle.
But leading experts insist there is ‘no evidence’ fertility treatment can trigger early menopause.
Roughly one in 20 women will experience an early menopause, when periods stop before the age of 45. For the majority, the cause is unknown.
Trinny, founder of makeup and skincare brand Trinny London, told the podcast: ‘I read this book called The Hormone Solution which she [Dr Schwartz] wrote.
‘And I went to see her in New York and she just laid it out for me.
‘She said ‘you did 16 rounds of IVF, that’s about 16 years of your cycle because each time you do a round of IVF you produce 10-12 eggs and that’s what you’re producing in a year’.
After Lyla, Trinny says she tried again to have another child with another five rounds of IVF, but that she never got pregnant
‘Never been told that. I wouldn’t have given a s*** because I had Lyla.
‘But it was interesting that my mum went in at 57 and there I was at 43 and so I’ve been very focused on it.’
Trinny said she only had a ‘few symptoms’ of early menopause but that she didn’t recognise them straight away.
However, experts have long dismissed the idea that IVF or other fertility treatments can trigger an early menopause.
For support visit: www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk / 01924 200 799
