The road to parenthood isn’t always easy. Even celebrities sometimes have difficulty expanding their family, but the years, money, and energy spent doing so is always worth it.

Check out some of Jennifer Hudson’s guests discussing their fertility journeys, including Adrienne Bailon-Houghton revealing why she chose to use a surrogate and John Legend explaining why he and wife Chrissy Teigen chose to share their fertility struggles with the world.

Subscribe to the “Jennifer Hudson Show” newsletter

In August 2022, the former “The Real” co-host and her husband, Grammy-winning music producer Israel Houghton, welcomed a baby boy, Ever James, via surrogate after struggling for six years to conceive.

“I think for such a long time it was a quiet journey I had with just myself,” Adrienne told Jennifer. “I didn’t expect it would be so hard for me to have a child. I don’t think women really talk about fertility issues.”

Adrienne underwent eight unsuccessful cycles of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in five years, leaving her with one last embryo. She could have had it placed in her body, which previously resulted in multiple miscarriages, or she could go with a surrogate, which is ultimately what she and her husband decided to do.

“I pulled him out myself,” she told Jennifer. “I put him right on me and we did skin-to-skin. I’m the first touch he ever experienced… I would not change a thing about it.”

John Legend spoke about becoming a dad for the third time with the arrival of his baby girl, Esti Maxine Stephens, who was born on January 13, 2023. He also discussed why he and wife Chrissy have been outspoken about sharing their struggles to conceive.

“We’ve had challenges — we used IVF to conceive our children, we’ve had pregnancy loss — and I think a lot of families go through that, but I think a lot of people were happy we talked about it so they didn’t feel so alone,” he told JHud.

“A lot of people go through this, and they go through it in silence… I think Chrissy and I talking about it have helped other people go through that journey.”

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok

Hasan Minhaj discussed his new comedy special “The King’s Jester” and how he shared details about his and his wife’s fertility journey.

“Usually fertility is seen as a woman’s issue, but it was my stuff,” he told JHud. “My parts don’t work.”

“We figured it out, and we were able to have kids,” he said. Hasan underwent varicocele repair surgery and his wife became pregnant soon after. “So your parts do work!” replied JHud.

HGTV stars Tarek and Heather Rae El Moussa discuss their fertility challenges and how it’s been “a dream come true” to finally welcome their baby boy Tristan.

The couple explained that Heather becoming pregnant naturally was a huge surprise, since they were struggling to conceive for years and had gone through two rounds of IVF.

“I thought she was showing me a COVID test. It was a pregnancy test!” recalled Tarek of finding out his wife was expecting.

“We still have embryos — we might have another baby!” said Heather. “It’s like a dream come true. I did not think I was going to be this obsessed with having a baby,” added Heather.

“The Jennifer Hudson Show” airs weekdays. Here’s when to watch in your area.