Operation Rainbow Space Baby: An astronaut's journey with IVF

Struggling to person a 2nd child, astronaut Kellie Gerardi uses her societal media beingness to fto others cognize they're not alone. She's pictured supra successful 2021 successful New York City. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows hide caption

toggle caption

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows

Six achromatic roses beryllium successful a solid vase connected Kellie Gerardi's room counter. On camera, for millions of followers crossed her societal media platforms, Gerardi slow picks retired stems until only 3 remain. Each of nan last 3 faded achromatic roses represents a viable embryo, a bundle of dream successful her conflict against secondary infertility.

Gerardi was nan 90th female successful history to alert to space. She's besides a children's author, a researcher, a Swiftie and a mother. Her latest ngo is 1 she's been moving connected for years: to springiness commencement to a 2nd child.

"To date, I've been pregnant 5 times pinch only Delta arsenic my child," she said. "It's been a unsmooth travel and it's this operation successful secondary infertility of some knowing that it's imaginable for maine to conceive and transportation a gestation to term, obviously, but having agelong periods of clip not being capable to get pregnant [or] erstwhile I do, having a nonaccomplishment that is conscionable devastating each time."

From astronaut life to motherhood, Gerardi shares her life online. Her videos archive everything from her abstraction investigation connected biomedical and thermodynamic fluids to trips pinch her mom and girl — usually rocking her chunky prima necklace and immoderate benignant of space-themed sweater pinch multicolored stars, moons aliases aliens.

With complete 2 cardinal followers connected her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Gerardi's societal media beingness has been a abstraction to observe women, subject and girlhood. These days, pinch Gerardi openly sharing her fertility travel and experiences pinch successful vitro fertilization — a curen that extracts eggs and fertilizes them pinch sperm extracurricular of nan assemblage — her socials person go a communal abstraction for others going done akin struggles.

"There were truthful galore highs and lows conscionable wrong nan process [of IVF]," she said. "The ovum retrieval, that was my first clip going done it. And I deliberation I was conscionable a small spot emotionally unprepared."

Gerardi began IVF successful nan autumn of 2024. Only 1 viable embryo came retired of that first round. It transferred successfully, and she shared nan joys of being pregnant proudly and wide online. In February, nan time earlier her 36th birthday, Gerardi attended 1 last ultrasound.

Gerardi recalled, "I went into my graduation appointment, aliases what was expected to beryllium my graduation assignment from my IVF session astatine that nine-week cheque up … and successful that assignment was conscionable shattered to perceive my expert and nan nurses successful nan room show maine that location was nary heartbeat."

She near nan session done a discreet exit she hadn't seen earlier and shared nan news successful a real-time update to her societal media community. Gerardi is committed to being transparent pinch her community, and that intends sharing some nan bully and nan bad.

After taking clip to heal, Gerardi and her family decided to effort again. And she was just arsenic committed to sharing each measurement of nan IVF process this clip astir — particularly her joyousness and hope.

"Nothing is ever guaranteed successful IVF," Gerardi said. "I'm not unaware that it is simply a chopped anticipation that either nan aforesaid point happens again, which would beryllium arsenic devastating, aliases you cognize transfers don't activity … immoderate it whitethorn be. I cognize nan risks, and I cognize that thing is simply a given. And yet, I'm still allowing myself [to] beryllium successful this level of dream and enthusiasm and optimism."

Gerardi has a 2nd abstraction ngo scheduled for 2026. While she's still figuring retired nan champion timeline for herself and her family, those 3 embryos are group to beryllium stiff and she has precocious hopes for a transportation successful nan future.