Lolo Jones is forging ahead in her journey of becoming a mother. The Olympic hurdler and bobsledder took to her Instagram on Thursday, August 4 to share her emotional IVF process, including her fears of missing out on having a family ahead of her milestone birthday. Alongside a clip of her breaking down in tears, Lolo wrote, “Terrified. 15 days before I turned 40. Nothing has scared me more than feeling like I’m running out of time to have a family.”
Lolo went on to say she initially thought about “freezing” her eggs when she was 30 years old. “I just kept thinking I will meet my husband and things will all work out,” she explained. “Well here I am almost 10 years later and it hasn’t.”
While wiping away tears in the accompanying video, Lolo admitted, “I’ve waited for my husband for so many years and I’m just getting mad. And I’m about to turn 40 and there’s a lot of stress on me right now.”
The clip included private moments during Lolo’s process, such as several doctor visits, blood tests, waiting for results and even glimpses of the athlete giving herself shots in the abdomen. Although the experience looked painful at times, Lolo made sure to encourage others to research options. “If you know you want to start a family but just can’t do it now maybe for career reasons or you don’t have a husband look into freezing your eggs.”
“I want to encourage women to check into this earlier,” she continued. “Not every women is the same. You can be 35 years old and have the egg count of someone who is 25 or you can be 25 years old and already losing your eggs at a high rate.”
The words of support resonated with her fans, as many thanked her in the comment section for being so brave and revealing her struggles. “Thank you for sharing your journey. I know that it is not an easy thing to do. I am proud of you on SO many levels,” one wrote, as another posted, “You are so strong Lolo sending lots of love and good energy your way.”
Lolo ended her emotional post by saying she will provide “updates to come on the outcome.” HollywoodLife will keep fans posted on them as well.