Jenna Bush Hager is the proud mom of three — Mila, Poppy, and Hal. But she's opening up about her fertility journey and why she felt it'd be difficult.
According to Jenna, daughter of former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, infertility runs in her side of the family. So she knew that starting a family of her own one day could be more difficult.
She talked on Today With Hoda & Jenna about her mother's struggle to conceive before she and twin sister Barbara came along in 1981.
"Infertility has run on my mom’s side of the family forever," she said. Not only did her mom struggle, but so did her grandmother Jenna Hawkins. Jenna revealed that her grandmother had multiple stillbirths, which is devastating. A stillbirth is different from a miscarriage, as it happens after the baby has developed for 20 weeks.
In knowing that history and after trying, George and Laura reportedly looked into adoption. Oddly enough, on the day they were contacted by the agency, Laura learned she was pregnant with her twins. Jenna holds onto a picture of her parents that they initially submitted to the agency, saying that it's part of their family's history.
Jenna knows she's lucky to have conceived fairly easily. But that too can be a challenge when you have friends with a similarly hard journey. It's difficult to celebrate a pregnancy when people you care about are having a hard time. Jenna admits that when she got pregnant with her son, Hal, she almost felt guilty.
She revealed in her book that Hal was somewhat of a surprise. "Many of my friends were struggling with infertility," she wrote. "How would they take the news that I was going to have a surprise baby?" But she also worried about sister Barbara during these times, especially with their family history.
"I knew my father was worried that Barbara, newly married, would likely be trying soon for a baby if she wasn't already," she had written. "My parents went through so much in order to conceive us, so they are sensitive to the feelings of anyone who does not yet have the babies they want. They thought that if Barbara was trying, she might understandably envy my pregnancy."
Being a twin likely didn't help. Jenna and Barbara have been linked for life and have gone through a lot together. They battled negative headlines together while their dad was president. Having your twin be able to start a family without any real issues can be heartbreaking for the other twin who is struggling.
Luckily, Laura handled the entire situation well. "She said what she always says when these questions arise: 'Every woman gets her baby in her time.'" Eventually, Barbara went on to have a daughter named Cora. No matter what, it's important to vocalize these struggles.
According to the National Institutes of Health, about 9% of men and 11% of women of reproductive age are facing infertility issues. That means it's more common than you think. In a group of women ready to start a family, at least a few will have a rocky go of it. By publicizing infertility, it's a way to make people more aware that achieving pregnancy can be challenging.
Jenna opening up about it is proof that even a presidential family can have struggles. That means that maybe we should all try to avoid asking couples the question of whether or not they'll have kids. They might have been trying for years and it would be an unwelcome reminder that they're without. Also, for some happy couples, having kids was never in the picture. It doesn't mean they still can't be a family.
It seems like Jenna will never forget the courage and struggle of the women who came before her. She's here today after her parents nearly gave up on the idea of biological kids, and she doesn't take that for granted. She seems like the kind of person who'll be there for friends trying to conceive, offering encouraging words and a hand to hold.
