Minnie Driver has detailed how a doctor told her she was ‘barren’ at the age of 18 before her ‘miracle’ pregnancy at the age of 37.
The actress made an appearance on The Healthy Baby Show podcast, where she spoke about her pregnancy journey, including becoming a mother to her son Henry, 13, in 2008.
The 52-year-old admitted she was stunned when she learned she was expecting having recently split from her boyfriend Timothy J. Lea, after dismissing her pregnancy symptoms as flu.
Heartbreak: Minnie Driver has detailed how a doctor told her she was ‘barren’ at the age of 18 and had no hopes of conceiving, before she fell pregnant at the age of 37
Speaking candidly she recalled: ‘I was told I couldn’t have children when I was 18.
‘This awful doctor just came into the room and he literally compared my uterus to the u-bend in a toilet and was like, ‘Nothing’s going through there. You won’t be having children.’
‘So I believed him and I believed him through my whole life,’ Minnie continued.
Candid: The 52-year-old opened up about the birth of her first ‘miracle’ child, Henry, in 2008 after being told it was unlikely she could have children (pictured with her son in August 2021)
The Circle of Friends actress went on to reveal how the doctor called her ‘barren,’ which she felt was an ‘absurd’ way to describe a woman who was physically unable to carry a child.
‘What a ridiculous thing to tell them that they are empty, if that’s what barren means, it means dead. A barren landscape, without fertility. It’s crazy,’ she explained.
Twenty years on from being told the devastating news, Minnie said she was gobsmacked when she learned she was going to be a mother two decades later.
Family: The British star gave birth to her ‘miracle’ baby Henry at 38 years old (pictured with her son In January)
‘When I was 37, I woke up on January the 1st with the flu and I was so bummed,’ she said.
‘I was like, I’ve got the flu. I had just recently broken up with someone who was nice but wasn’t my partner.
‘I didn’t have kids. I didn’t have a job. I don’t know. And then I found out I was pregnant.’
Harsh: The Circle of Friends actress went on to reveal how the doctor called her ‘barren,’ which she felt was an ‘absurd’ way to describe a woman who was physically unable to carry a child
‘My sister was like, I think you’re pregnant. I was like, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m barren, ‘ ‘ she continued. ‘So, I got pregnant and then went, ‘This is a miracle.’ This is a miracle like through and through.
‘I always loved an adventure, and here was this great late stage adventure.’
The British star gave birth to her ‘miracle’ baby Henry at 38 years old after a brief fling with her former The Riches writer, Timothy J. Lea.
Shock: Twenty years on from being told the devastating news, Minnie said she was gobsmacked when she learned she was going to be a mother two decades later
‘It’s only us that apply all of our strictures and dogma to what it should look like. And my mother said you should bury the word ‘should’ in the backyard,’ she shared.
She added, ‘Everybody is subject to the vagaries of circumstance, and all we can do is build our strength at becoming these fluid, flexible kind of judo type people/parents with what life throws at us.’
Minnie is currently engaged to her filmmaker fiancé Addison O’Dea.
Going strong: Minnie is engaged to Addison (L) and has her son Henry (R) from a brief romance with her former The Riches writer, Timothy J. Lea (posted June 2020)
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