Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is sharing her experience with in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.
During an interview with PEOPLE at the LA VOÛTE Tour in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 20, the 40-year-old actress discussed her journey to becoming a mother.
“I only did eight cycles of IVF, but that doesn’t include the amount of IUIs I did and every other kind of imaginable treatments that you could imagine for fertility,” she said. “So it was a pretty tough six years of trying to have my son.”
Bailon-Houghton and her husband Israel Houghton welcomed their son Ever James On August 5, 2022 via a surrogate.
When asked about the financial toll of her fertility treatments, Bailon-Houghton estimated that the total cost was “easily over a million.”
“And that is not realistic for the average person. And I recognize that,” she acknowledged.
Adrienne announced the arrival of her son in 2022 and reflected on the arduous journey to parenthood.
“Our baby boy is here & we are so in love! If you have followed our love story… you know that our journey to baby has been very challenging – But God is true to His word and His promises. We have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months,” the new mom expressed.
“He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage. Everything. All we feel is joy and overwhelming love & gratitude,” she continued. “Grateful to God, to our angel surrogate and to all of our friends and family who have stood with us for over 5 years on this journey. He’s here and we have never been happier to lose sleep! #HappilyEverHoughton 🤍”
A single IVF cycle—defined as ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval and embryo transfer—can range from $15,000 to $30,000, depending on the center and the patient’s individual medication needs. Medications can account for up to 35% of those charges.
