Idina Menzel, 51, describes ‘exhausting’ IVF journey trying for 2nd baby
Idina Menzel candidly describes her unsuccessful IVF journey while trying to conceive another child in her upcoming documentary.
“No matter what the outcome, I just wanted women to feel seen in this film and people to understand what we go through,” the Broadway star, 51, told People of “Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?” in an interview published Tuesday.
“It was important to me to forgo the privacy of that and allow people to have a little window into that experience.”
Menzel — who shares 13-year-old son Walker with her ex-husband, Taye Diggs — turned to IVF so that she and her second husband, Aaron Lohr, could have a child together.
The actress’ new project documents her fertility journey, showing doctor’s visits and some of her most vulnerable moments, which she referred to as a “balancing act.”
“I’m literally going through stuff that I’m shooting into my body, and I don’t know how that’s going to affect my voice,” she recalls in the doc.
“And it may force me to make extra trips to get back and forth to the doctor in addition to making trips to get home to my family. And all of that isn’t great on your body when you’re trying to have a baby.”
But having a child together wasn’t always in Menzel and Lohr’s plans.
“Maybe before meeting me, [Lohr] didn’t think he wanted to have kids, and then he sees how good of a dad he can be, so I wanted that for him,” she told the magazine, adding, “I didn’t think I wanted to have a baby, but then Aaron has been the most amazing man to my son.”
While the “Frozen” star and Lohr, 46, didn’t end up welcoming a child together, they have “moved beyond” it and are happy with where they are now.
“I have this amazing son, and I was fortunate enough to have him,” she said. “And the pregnancy was pretty easy and I conceived easily, and there’s a lot of people that don’t even get to have that.”
Menzel also said that Lohr, an actor, is grateful that she even tried for another baby and that it made their bond stronger.
“[Lohr] feels really loved that I even tried and put my body through that,” she shared. “I think going through all that, you’re so exhausted by it that finally, it becomes apparent, like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore, and it just wasn’t meant to be,’ and you’re resolved in that.”
The “Wicked” star explained that Lohr is a like a father to Walker and that her son is more than enough for the two of them.
“He sees Walker as his own kid at this point anyway,” she said. “I think we feel content and lucky with what we have.”
Menzel and Lohr married in 2017 after co-starring in the 2005 film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Rent.”
“Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?” premieres Friday on Disney+.
