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In a recent interview with OK! Magazine, The Real co-host Adrienne Houghton was asked to update people on how things are going with she and husband Israel’s efforts to expand their family. The pair marked two years of marriage in November. Adrienne’s been open about what it’s like dealing with people’s nonstop questions about what’s going on in her uterus, having Hashimoto’s thyroiditis that has caused weight gain and further speculation about a possible pregnancy, as well as facing the fact that things haven’t occurred as soon as she would have liked. However, she thinks people have the wrong idea about her situation, so she set things straight during the chat when asked about how baby making is going.
“I’m really enjoying the process of making it! That’s been a good time,” she said. “I joked around on my show but obviously there is a realness to the fact that not everybody gets pregnant the first time they try. For me it just hasn’t been that way. We actually started trying in August so I know a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my God.’ I do want to clarify, I don’t have fertility issues. I think it is important [to say that] because that’s a really serious thing, you shouldn’t throw that around. But we do have to be just more sensitive in general. I thought I could try and it would just happen and it didn’t work out that way, but I do believe in God’s timing. I’m in no rush, and we’re enjoying ourselves.”
While the process can have its disappointments, Adrienne said what keeps her positive and encouraged is knowing “there’s a plan and purpose and everything’s going to work out exactly the way it’s supposed to, when it’s supposed to.” It also helps that other notable women are speaking about the unique journeys they’ve been on to motherhood.
“Seeing stories like Carrie Underwood, Gabrielle Union. I think normalizing the conversation is important,” she said. “I think as women, we can shame ourselves and feel, ‘Well, I’m not woman enough if I didn’t get pregnant because you looked at me.’ I’m looking at myself like, ‘I’m Latina, I have hips, I’m going to be able to pop a baby out with no problem,’ and it may not go that way for me, and that’s okay, too. Everyone’s journey to having a baby is not the same. It doesn’t make one more special than the other. Everyone’s is unique and they’re all miracles from heaven. So I’m just like, stay positive and don’t give up.”
Overall though, she does think people need to be more delicate when broaching these types of conversations.
“I think it is important for us as women, to one, be sensitive,” Adrienne said. “I’m just eating sweet potato pie. I’m not pregnant currently, people. That’s offensive, too! Like, ‘Yo, I think she’s pregnant.’ No guys, I’ve just been eating well. So that’s one, we have to be more sensitive to that. And also, to the comments, you’ve got to be careful, because I think there really are people that are trying. There’s people that we think didn’t struggle at all and they just got pregnant, and then when you have a real conversation with them, they’re like, ‘No sweetie, we tried, it didn’t work,’ or ‘I had miscarriages.’ I think that brings hope, comfort and reassurance to women that have been through that.”
