Former Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Ola Jordan has shared an impassioned message for fellow women who want a family in an exclusive interview with HELLO!
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The 39-year-old star welcomed her daughter Ella, two, with husband James Jordan, 44, in February 2020 after three years of trying to conceive, and one round of IVF. Now, as a new survey reveals almost half of women are delaying motherhood, Ola advises them, "Don't leave it too late."
WATCH: Ola's daughter Ella is besotted with newborn baby
The survey, initiated by leading fertility group IVI and carried out by GFK, discovered that 49 percent of women are delaying having children due to fears about the cost of living, the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 variants and a lack of affordable housing.
Furthermore, over a quarter of women (27.2 percent) are deciding not to have children due to concerns about the state of the UK and the wider world, while 29.2 percent say that a lack of cash is holding them back.
And in women aged under 36 with one or more children, 42.5 percent say they won’t have any more kids due to insufficient financial resources.
Ola tells HELLO!: "It's really sad. Forty-nine percent of women delaying having children is a big percentage, but I'm not surprised, to be honest with you."
"I want to have another baby and I've also been asking myself the question, 'Do I want to bring a child into this world if we're going through so much with the cost of living and the war in Ukraine?' I do want another child but I understand how people feel. It's sad."
Ola's fertility journey
"I was 37 when I had Ella," recalls Ola. "I started trying to conceive when I was 34 for about three years. Back then I had my dancing career, and I wasn't thinking about having children because I travelled around the country – I didn't want to have a child and do the job I was doing because it was impossible to do."
Ola with baby Ella
She adds: "I suppose if you'd told me then, 'Don't leave it too late', I wouldn't have listened to you. I'd have said, 'I have things to sort out and my career to finish, when I'm ready I'll settle down'. Then I was ready, but it wasn't happening."
Ola reveals that she had thought she'd fall pregnant quickly because all of her friends had conceived easily. She thought she'd be exactly the same.
Ola explains: "Me being a healthy professional dancer, I'm thinking to myself, 'What's wrong with my body? Why am I not getting pregnant? It should be easy; apparently, it's easy. I've tried all those years not to get pregnant and now I can't.'
"The years go so quickly when you can't get pregnant. You're waiting month by month and it's not happening."
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Ola's advice to other women
Given what she went through trying to conceive for three years and then turning to IVF, does Ola regret not trying for a baby when she was younger?
She says: "I probably should have started [trying for a baby] earlier because those three years were wasted in a way – I was waiting for this pregnancy to happen that didn't happen. I didn't know it would take so long, but this is the thing… when you leave it till age 35 your egg count goes down, so there is more chance of not getting pregnant than getting pregnant, I suppose.
"This is where I think women are not thinking about it, because yes, we are evolving, life is very different from 40 years ago. Women work now, our lives are different from those years when women stayed home as mums, but we forget that our body clock hasn't changed."
Ola during her pregnancy with Ella
"Our body clock didn't evolve over 40 years, it's still the same. Our egg count is still going down after age 35. And when you think about 35, it is still young, right? It's not with our body clock though, and I think a lot of people forget that."
The star admits: "I know it's easy for me to talk, now I've got my Ella. I suppose it's your choice, as long as you know that it's not going to be maybe easier later in life. I think if you're young and you think you'd like to eventually have a family, don't leave it too late."
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Ola and her little girl Ella
Ola's hopes for another baby
Ella is now two and a half and Ola and James are happy with their family of three, although they would love to expand their family.
The Jordan family
"Ella has told us she'd like a sibling," reveals Ola. "My friend gave birth four weeks ago and we went away with her when she was pregnant. I was trying to explain to Ella that she had a baby in her belly. Then I was putting her to bed one night and she grabbed my tummy and said, 'Mummy I want a baby in the belly, baby in the belly!' So it's quite cute.
"Then another day she actually mentioned: 'Mummy I want a sister! I want a brother!'
"Ella's also really cute with her dolly. Ella watches my friend with her newborn and she's now more gentle with her dolly and pretends it's a real baby. She'll give it to me and we feed it. I think it would be lovely for her if I had another one."
Trying IVF again
How do Ola and James feel about doing another round of IVF should they need to?
Ola says: "I still would like to think that I would get pregnant naturally. It probably won't happen because if it hasn't happened all those years and Ella is two and a half.
"To be honest with you I haven't stopped trying – not actively trying, just not preventing. I will go for another [round of] IVF if I have to because I'd really like to have another one. I'd like to have a sibling for Ella. And she's so lovely and so perfect, why wouldn't I have another one? But you know, if it doesn't happen, it's not meant to be and I'm just so grateful we've got Ella."
Dr Mireia Galian, Senior IVF Consultant at IVI London, says of the survey results: "There’s a huge amount of information out there about fertility rates and how many babies are born in the UK each year, but we wanted to dig a little deeper and see what women really think and feel about becoming mothers for the first time, or about adding to their family."
"At IVI, we are passionate about helping women build their families, so it’s important for us to know what motivators and barriers are at play."
If you have been affected by the subjects discussed in this story, you can find information and help at fertilitynetworkuk.org or tommys.org
