Brooke Shields and daughter Rowan: Artificial insemination is discussed openly

Before Hollywood star Brooke Shields (59) became a mother, she underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) seven times. Thanks to artificial insemination, the actress was finally able to embrace her first daughter Rowan Francis Henchy (21) in 2003, while her second daughter Grier Hammond (18) was conceived naturally. A topic that is discussed openly in the family, as is clear.

“Without IVF I wouldn’t be here”

In it, Shields’ daughters admire their mother’s openness about in vitro fertilization. “Without IVF, I wouldn’t be here,” Rowan emphasizes. “I was frozen for two years, and I think Mom talked to us about it from a young age, so we’re aware of it now. It’s an important conversation for young women to have.”

Brooke Shields agrees. Many women of her generation and of the current generation only think about their careers first – “and that takes time and years, and then you get to a point, you’re in your thirties, and suddenly the problems can start, and that’s why I always ask people: ‘Have you frozen your eggs?’ That’s also an important topic for young women.”

Her daughter Rowan, who is currently in her final year of college, joked: “The other night she looked at me and said, ‘Your graduation present is to freeze your eggs,’ and I was like, ‘Mom…'”

Her openness about postnatal depression should also help her daughters

Brooke Shields is not only open about the subject of artificial insemination. She has also taken the subject of postnatal depression out of the taboo zone. In 2005, the “Blue Lagoon” star wrote about it in his book “Down Came the Rain”. At the time, she was one of the first prominent women to talk about her struggle with feelings of sadness and hopelessness after giving birth. Rowan believes that her mother’s book “changed the lives of many women”. “Something so terrible” finally had a positive ending, “and she now has a stronger connection to me because of what she went through.”

Brooke Shields stressed that the book was also important for her two daughters. After all, if they ever have children, they too could be affected by it. “It’s just a tool – to help them recognize if something is wrong, that it’s normal and should be addressed. There’s nothing wrong with them. It’s not their fault, and that’s what I wanted to convey to them later in life.”

Brooke Shields has been married to screenwriter and film producer Chris Henchy (60) since 2001, with whom she had two daughters. Her first marriage to tennis star Andre Agassi (54) lasted from 1997 to 1999 and remained childless.