Olivia Munn Says She 'Felt Like an Expectant Father' While Waiting for Daughter Méi's Arrival Via Surrogate (Exclusive)

Olivia Munn is reflecting connected her travel welcoming 8-month-old girl Méi via surrogate.

The Your Friends & Neighbors prima — who besides shares boy Malcolm, 3, pinch hubby John Mulaney —tells PEOPLE successful this week's screen story that preparing for Méi's presence "was nan first clip I was like, 'Oh wait, is this what it's for illustration to beryllium an expectant dad?'"

"A batch of times group say, 'Oh, nan dads don't really link pinch nan babe until it's correct location successful beforehand of them,' " says Munn, 44. "The dads, they're not carrying nan baby. I carried Malcolm, truthful I understood from nan very genesis, like, okay, I've sewage a life successful me. Your assemblage is changing and your power is changing and your hairsbreadth is changing and everything's changing, truthful it feels very existent each nan time."

"Even though it each felt very existent for me, and our surrogate and I said each nan clip and she'd nonstop maine videos, it was a small spot of, 'Oh wait, she's coming,' " Munn continues. "I felt for illustration an expectant father."

Munn had to usage a surrogate to grow her family because of her breast crab diagnosis successful April 2023. After a lymph node dissection, a nipple hold process and a double mastectomy, she had a "window" wherever she could do an ovum retrieval earlier being sent into surgical menopause from having her uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries removed successful a hysterectomy pinch oophorectomy.

"It was important to do it astatine that moment, but it was besides scary because my type of crab feeds connected hormones, and location are a batch of hormone injections pinch IVF,” says Munn, who later had reconstructive surgery.

Munn’s expert put her connected a typical IVF protocol for crab patients and was capable to retrieve 7 eggs (at Munn’s age, astir 1 successful 10 eggs is healthy). After nan eggs were fertilized, 2 of nan embryos were “strong capable to beryllium tested for abnormalities and nan gender,” says Munn, whose heart, on pinch Mulaney’s, was group connected a babe girl.

"I retrieve I was connected a locomotion pinch John, and I said, 'I really don't deliberation that I'll beryllium okay unless we get 2 woman embryos. I cognize this puts maine astatine risk, but I conscionable request you to support me,' " Munn recalls. "He said, ‘Whatever you need.’ "

That aforesaid day, Munn’s expert called and told her they had 2 patient female embryos.

"That was a motion for maine everything was going to beryllium okay,” says Munn.

Then began nan "emotional process" of finding a surrogate.

"The number 1 point that I wanted successful a surrogate was personification who was kind," Munn says. "I conscionable wanted her to beryllium kind, and I needed her to understand that this is simply a way that I had to spell on. This is not a prime I would've made for myself."

A friend of a friend recommended an agency, and they gave Munn 2 profiles of imaginable surrogates. One of nan women mentioned she wanted to thief personification who had gone done cancer, and aft gathering pinch her, Munn knew she was nan correct personification to transportation their daughter.

"The first point I worried astir was if I would beryllium capable to find personification who would emotion and return attraction of my girl arsenic overmuch arsenic I would,” she says. “We were truthful fortunate to find personification truthful benignant who we bonded pinch truthful much.”

Still, arsenic Munn grew a relationship pinch her surrogate, pinch whom she remains close, she grappled pinch different fears.

"I had a interest of 'Will my girl cognize me?’ " she remembers.

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After Méi’s arrival, Munn’s anxieties disappeared.

"Méi would cry, and I was nan only 1 who could get her to stop,” she says. "I knew she knew me, and I knew her. She’s sewage this stick-straight hairsbreadth that I had erstwhile I was a baby. I deliberation because I wasn’t capable to transportation her, I really needed to spot myself successful her. I spot myself successful her truthful much."

Two years retired from her crab diagnosis, “It’s truthful crazy to deliberation that I’m sitting present pinch 2 astonishing babies,” says Munn. “I’m conscionable truthful happy and grateful, and I’m really proud of what I’ve been capable to do. I didn’t cognize really overmuch spot I had wrong me.”