Lisa Faulkner has reflected on her past attempts to get pregnant - and the agony she endured after suffering an ectopic pregnancy and seeing three rounds of IVF treatment fail.
The 47-year-old actress is mum to 12-year-old daughter Billie who she adopted in 2007 when she was married to fellow actor Chris Coghill, 44.
In an interview with The Sun on Sunday’s Fabulous magazine, Lisa explained that when she was in her early 30s she became “fixated” with becoming pregnant and was frustrated when difficulties arose.
Lisa has penned a book titled Meant To Be where she goes into detail about her struggle to get pregnant, going through an ectopic pregnancy, and ultimately failing to fall pregnant through IVF.
In her interview, the TV star said that one of the biggest and most difficult moments through her attempts to get pregnant was coming to terms with the ectopic pregnancy.
“When I was 31 we got pregnant and I thought that was what was meant to be. But we discovered it was an ectopic pregnancy at six weeks,” she told the magazine.
“It was brutal. Nobody explained to me that an ectopic pregnancy wasn’t viable. I thought: ‘OK, it’s just growing in the wrong place, can you not move it?’ I thought they could do anything. In the end, they had to remove one of my Fallopian tubes,” she said.
Lisa said that she attempted three rounds of IVF treatment - saying that the process was “expensive”, but the belief that the process would lead to a child made it worth it.
However, doctors told her to stop the treatment when the third attempt failed - leading to a mixed reaction from the star.
“I was devastated, but I knew he was the best I could go to. He was so very caring and he tried everything. There was probably a bit of relief as well,” she said.
“After two years of IVF, it was full-on. I felt like a bloated, exhausted thing that walked around pretending everything was fine. I don’t think people realise how brutal IVF is and how much your body suffers,” she added.
Lisa and Chris now co-parent Billie after divorcing in 2011 - with the actress saying her relationship with Chris and approach to raising their daughter is “great”.
The star is now engaged to TV chef John Torode after meeting on Celebrity Masterchef in 2010 and then beginning dating in 2013.
The Australian cook popped the question last Christmas - with the pair expected to tie-the-knot this autumn.
