Television personality and actress, Stephanie Coker Aderinokun has opened up about her challenging journey with PCOS and unsuccessful attempts at IVF (In Vitro Fertilization), leading to the loss of her baby.
After conceiving her first child, Ariella, through IVF, she wanted a second child and had to go through IVF again.
In a conversation with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, the mother of one disclosed that she suffered heartbreak and nearly committed suicide after her second IVF operation in 2024 failed after spending over $40,000 and travelling to Los Angeles.
Following her procedure, Stephanie said she called her friend and told her that she felt the baby rejected her because the baby didn’t like her, and all she wanted to do after was die.
Stephanie explained that IVF was her only option due to her diagnosis of PCOS. Struggling with the physical toll of PCOS, she shared harrowing experiences of excessive bleeding, fainting spells, and even resorting to sleeping outdoors.
She described being confined to a wheelchair and, at one point, having to sleep outside in the garden because of severe internal heat.
Adding to her difficulties, that same year, her husband lost his election amid intense public scrutiny.
“I didn’t have my period for a whole year. PCOS made me choose IVF because mine was very severe. My doctor told me mine was life-threatening; I ended up in a wheelchair and was vomiting blood.
“I got pregnant on the first IVF, the second one failed and actually I was standing in front of a car just to let the car hit me,”
Chude shared a short clip of the interview on Instagram and captioned:
“This was a #WithChude classic, and usually those only happen with veterans. But this one was. In between the most beautiful tears, cool kid and It-girl Stephanie Coker tells me about the heartbreak from her second IVF operation just last year, after spending over $40,000 and travelling to Los Angeles.
She said after the IVF failed she called her friend and asked: ‘So where is the baby?’. She felt the baby rejected her because the baby didn’t like her and all she wanted to do after was die.
IVF was the only option because of her diagnosis of PCOS – a condition that led to her bleeding so much last year that she fainted and had to be rushed to the hospital, where she was confined to a wheelchair and at one point had to sleep outside in the garden because the ‘internal heat’ was too much.
And then in that same year, her husband lost his elections – held in the face of intense public scrutiny. All of this while people think she has had the easiest life, using her British passport and her accent to build a career-to-die-for in Nigeria and having her wedding in an idyllic Greek island.
It was in the course of this interview that it occurred to her that, from the intense pain and shame of PCOS she has endured for two decades has finally come some light – her ‘Where the heck is my period? documentary that is rave of the moment.
“This feels like a release,” she said during the interview, and then at the end. “This was like therapy for me.” I love our conversation so much, and I am so happy to be able to share this gem with you today.”
