Tyra Banks Details Fertility Struggles, ‘Emotional’ Journey to Motherhood
Tyra Banks shared some painful recollections of her passage to parenthood.
In a profile piece featured in this week's issue of People with her mother, Carolyn London, the America's Next Top Model host chronicled her difficult maternity journey and the overwhelming obstacles she faced in trying to conceive a child.
The 44-year-old model confessed the stress she and her boyfriend at the time, photographer Erik Asla, endured in their years-long efforts of having a child of their own to no avail.
Eventually, the couple turned their faith to in vitro fertilization, which proved equally damaging to Banks' emotional health.
“It hurt me so much to watch her struggle through that," London remembered of the moment she learned the painful news regarding her daughter's IVF while decorating the nursery for her future grandchild.
"She set up a nursery and in the bathroom she put a tile in the floor that said, ‘Mommy Already Loves You.’ And then she found out the IVF had failed. It ripped my heart out.”
Despite the myriad of disappointing attempts, Asla and Banks belatedly found success in acquiring a surrogate.
“There are so many stages,” the 44-year-old star explained to People of the process. “It’s like, ‘Okay, it’s a healthy embryo. Okay, it’s month one.’ I was just constantly living on edge until I held him for the first time.”
In January 2016, the couple welcomed a son named York Banks Asla.
Banks and Asla have since separated but share joint parenting responsibilities.