Heart Evangelista opens up about “very difficult and painful” IVF journey

Actress-influence Heart Evangelista has shared the difficulties she had throughout her in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure, in a cover article for the fashion magazine L’Officiel Philippines.

According to the fashionista, the procedure was “one of the toughest, challenging time” of her life.

“With IVF, they inject you with fertility hormones. It was very difficult and painful. I had three injections a day over a two-week process,” the 37-year-old said.

Evangelista did not specify when she started the IVF process. What she shared, however, was that “after the harvesting and the processes that came after, they were able to gather the perfect boy and the perfect girl.”

After suffering a miscarriage in 2018, Evangelista has received unsolicited and sometimes nasty comments from the public for continuing to be “childless,” which her detractors claim is a sign of her misplaced priorities. The experience has enabled her to ponder her own thoughts about having a child.

“I actually have a baby boy and a baby girl waiting for me, but I’m really at this stage in my life where [I ask myself], ‘Do I want a child because I want a child?’ or ‘Do I want a child because the environment or culture dictates that I should have a child?'”

Nevertheless, the actress and beauty and fashion influencer would encourage other women to undergo IVF as it “buys (them) time.”

“Any time they decide on having a child, the embryo is there. Whether you decide immediately or five years from now, there is no deadline. Also, the process is available in the Philippines and not just abroad.”

The cover story mentions Evangelista thanking her husband, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero for supporting her.

“Chiz is a really good guy though we’re very different because he’s very conservative and I’m also a little bit more modern. Perhaps it’s because of our age gap. But what I like about him is he tries. He tries to be as supportive as he can be.”

Before the release of the magazine, rumors that Evangelista and Escudero had called quits began circulating.

In one of her YouTube vlogs, Evangelista admitted “going through a lot of personal stuff” as well as “personal struggles” and “a lot of pressure.”

Since then, netizens have scrutinized her posts and videos, trying to look for hints about the couple’s real status.

Neither Evangelista nor Escudero has addressed the rumor.