This Morning soap expert Sharon Marshall has opened up about her devastating pregnancy journey and how she tried to hide her IVF attempts due to embarrassment.
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Sharon joined Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the sofa on Thursday morning to share her long struggle with IVF and to encourage other women to talk about their fertility experiences.
WATCH: Sharon spoke with Holly and Phil about her struggles with IVF
The entertainment journalist bravely explained why she felt she had to hide her pregnancy struggles. She said: "I hid it, I’m not sure why, I think I felt embarrassed. I felt I wasn’t innately woman… which was a ridiculous way to think… because this is something you’re supposed to do naturally."
She continued: "I felt almost stupid and I wasn’t telling people at work which was leading to problems, because you’re having to go off to scans and injections and I would suddenly not be available for meetings…withdrawing from people and my friends. That was one of my biggest mistakes."
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Sharon also opened up about the emotional toll of failed IVF cycles, saying she was "very depressed" during her forties and felt "emotionally and physically" ill from the repeated cycles.
Sharon gave birth to her daughter Betsey in 2018
The soap expert then went on to reveal that she warned her This Morning co-stars Amanda Holden and Gok Wan not to give her a baby during a segment about the bonniest babies in Britain because she feared she would have had a "meltdown". When they came off air, Amanda recommended that she seek counselling.
Sharon was applauded by viewers for opening up about her IVF journey. One person tweeted: "Sharon Marshall thank you for highlighting IVF and fertility difficulties. The emotional struggles, the loss and grief, brave, honest and needed," while another added: "Sharon Marshall on this morning is breaking my heart! such a strong person to publicly speak about pain so many of us are going through!"
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Viewers also thanked the ITV show for highlighting the subject of fertility struggles and loss. One person wrote: "Thank you so much @thismorning and Sharon for sharing your IVF story. No one understands how hard the journey is, emotionally, mentally and physically and it’s so true about the statistics & how low the success rate really is. Fertility needs to be talked about more."
Sharon opened up about her fertility journey on This Morning
The sentiment was echoed by many more on social media, with one person writing: "You can see this is extremely hard for Sharon to talk about. Well done her bringing awareness to the struggles/taboo of fertility."
Sharon and her husband Paul Fletcher welcomed their daughter Betsey in 2018, who was conceived through IVF.
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