Gigi Gorgeous Shares IVF Journey with Nats Getty, Says It's a 'Blessing' They Created Two Embryos (Exclusive)
The YouTuber and LGBTQ advocate tells PEOPLE that after having a "complete lifestyle shift" and going off of hormones, she now has active sperm again
Gigi Gorgeous is opening up about her years-long fertility journey.
The YouTuber and LGBTQ advocate, 31, tells PEOPLE she and husband Nats Getty are currently "over the moon" as they continue on their road to becoming parents, recently getting the exciting news that they have two viable embryos after completing one round of in vitro fertilization. (The couple is currently undergoing a second round of IVF.)
Gigi, who has been open about her family planning journey on her YouTube channel, explains that the process of getting to where she and Nats are now was both "scary" and difficult. Since she was on hormones for over 10 years, Gigi had to undergo a "complete lifestyle shift," which included stopping her hormones for a few years, committing to a fitness routine and no longer tucking.
"When I started my transition, I just immediately wanted to get on hormones. No one really talked to me about freezing what I had, my DNA for the future children that I wanted to have. I just really wasn't thinking about it. And it wasn't until I really got to know Nats and his values and just got together as a couple that we were like, 'We ultimately do want kids,' " she begins. "But I didn't think that it would be an option for me because I had been on hormones for so long. So maybe five years ago, I was like, 'Yeah, I definitely want to try to make this work and see what I can do.' "
"If I was going to try to contribute biologically for future children, I would have to just stop hormones altogether. And that's been a constant in my life for over 10 years, so the thought of going off of them really, really scared me," she admits. "And it just was a conscious decision, mind over matter, just having to stop altogether. The fitness component, of course, I really wasn't into working out or living the healthiest lifestyle. I never really worked out before and I just really leaned all the way in."
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Related: YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous Opens Up About Pregnancy as a Transgender Woman in Emotional Video
After initially being told she had no active sperm in a sample she gave at the doctor years ago, Gigi decided to take a few years off from her hormones and begin her fitness journey.
"I've just been working out and working on my body every single day. It's become a huge priority for me. And I think that's ultimately what was the biggest change in my success, that now I do have active sperm and we have created embryos now because of my healthy lifestyle fitness journey and changing my lifestyle holistically."
The couple, who tied the knot in July 2019, then went back to the doctor where Gigi gave another sample and learned her "body had turned around." Nats then froze his eggs as well and they were able to do their first round of IVF, which resulted in two embryos: a boy and a girl.
"We really didn't know what to expect," Gigi says of the IVF process. "We were like, 'Okay, we're just going to give this our all. We're going to be there for each other, and if it doesn't ultimately work out, then we can at least say that we tried.' We just need to be able to lean on each other, we need to hold each other accountable for all of the appointments and just all of everything encompassing of what IVF is."
"It's a blessing, but it's so f----ing gnarly," adds Nats of undergoing IVF. "In the space of two months, I'm on my second round, 12 to 14 days of at least three shots a day, so many vitamins and pills, and it's all super foreign to me because I've never taken a hormone in my life. It was just difficult, but I think that having the main goal, having children together is always the focus, so we can overcome anything. And Gigi's been the sweetest, takes care of me, makes me dope food, she does all the shots for me because, even though I'm covered in tattoos, needles freak me out, so I can't even see the shots being prepared. She handles all of that, comes with me to all my appointments, and is just the best wife about it."
Part of Gigi's change in lifestyle also includes no longer tucking. "The first time we went to the doctor, I never really knew that tucking would affect sperm or sperm count or anything. But I found out through a friend of mine who had gone through this IVF process that anything tight or restrictive down there, like a tucking panty is probably the most tight or restrictive thing you could wear down there for underwear, can really, really affect and kill sperm."
"When I found that out, I was like, 'Oh my God, I've been tucking every single day. This is something that I have to stop as well.' So I haven't tucked in for a year now, which is insane," adds The T Guide author. "So that was something that was a huge lifestyle change and I just had to basically throw out all of my tucking panties and start living a life untucked."
"Even though it is very physical and may seem silly to some people reading, I feel that it's such a trigger for me to not be tucked because that's just something that I've done every single day for my entire transition. So it was kind of a mindf--- to not tuck. And that was just another thing that I had to be like, 'Okay, let me get my head in the game here and commit.' "
Nats, who shares he "never really thought about" having kids before meeting Gigi, says he also had to "stop basically doing everything that was part of my daily routine," including working out and taking certain medications.
"I relied so heavily on that routine to keep me in check because getting off of drugs and staying in a safe mental space is very fragile, very precious, and a lot of upkeep is required to stay in a safe and positive area," he continues.
The couple was recently given the happy news about their two viable embryos, which Gigi says was an "insane" moment for her.
"I remember it so clearly. I was out to drinks with my girlfriend and it was late at night and I got a call from the doctor. And she just said to me, 'Gigi, we have active sperm swimmers for you.' I just broke down crying. I was so, so excited," she recalls. "And just all the work that I had put in over the past few years of just basically stopping my transition and then just getting really healthy, working out, making lifestyle changes, everything paid off. So I was over the moon."
Gigi adds that they don't have a plan as to which embryo they want to transfer first. "I feel like it's such a blessing that we get both, but obviously being trans ourselves, the gender really truly doesn't matter. We're just happy that we have healthy ones because that is really all that matters to us."
"I'm so excited that they're biologically going to be our children. It's just such a blessing. A lot of people aren't able to experience that or have that. We just feel really, really lucky," she says.
The beauty star also emphasizes the importance of sharing her story online as a way to "encourage people, trans girls in particular, if [having biological children] is something that ultimately they want to do, to freeze what you have while you're still healthy and not taking any hormone replacement therapy."
"A lot of people, when I started sharing about my medical journey and wanting to freeze my sperm and all of that, people were like, 'Whoa, I never even thought about that when it comes to being a trans woman and having kids,' " she adds. "I think it's just all an educational process."
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