Desperate Rants and Magic Pants
They had seven years
of invasive medical procedures and alternative therapies, including female
Viagra, a brain scan and ‘magic orange pants’, before their long-awaited baby,
Jemima, was born.
By talking candidly
about her own story, she wants to help break taboos around discussing the
topic, and encourage couples in a similar situation to open up and get the
support they desperately need.
Andrea said, “I am
incredibly proud, considering the emotion involved, that I’ve been able to
write our story down. I wrote the book to try to be a source of strength and
company to the many couples struggling with infertility – approximately 1 in 7
couples, according to current NHS statistics.
“I also wanted to help
foster better awareness in those who are close to anyone struggling to start a
family. It can be difficult to know how to open up the conversation and I hope
this book can help.”
As well as sharing their
own story, Desperate Rants and Magic Pants also includes many of the
stories from guests on Andrea’s podcast discussing fertility, Making Babies.
Andrea added, “It was
really important to me that the book included some of the experiences that I
heard while creating my podcast, Making Babies.
“By including these
stories, I’ve been able to share what we’ve gone through, and also represent
all sorts of other experiences along the fertility spectrum.”
Andrea is married to former
Wales international rugby player, Lee Byrne. In his foreword to the book, Lee
discusses how hard it was for him to talk about their struggle to start a
family.
He said, “I am an
intensely private person and while I used to get an immense thrill from scoring
a try in front of thousands of fans in a rugby stadium, the media spotlight
isn’t really for me.
“When we were going
through fertility treatment, I was particularly adamant that we shouldn’t talk
about it publicly. It was a very hard time for both of us emotionally, and also
physically for Andrea.
“But after Jemima came
along, Andrea wanted to play her part to normalise the conversation to help
anyone on this wretched journey feel less alone.
“And the more I
started talking about it with a few rugby boys or coaches, the more I started
to feel maybe this wasn’t a shameful thing to keep under wraps. I began to use
it as a conversation starter rather than a conversation stopper.”
Sport presenter Gabby
Logan has also talked openly about the problems she and her husband – former Scotland
rugby player Kenny – had in trying to start a family.
When talking of
Andrea’s new book, she said, “Andrea’s book is a must for anyone going through
fertility issues. It’s a reminder that you are not alone and sharing our
stories with each other really can help to normalise and comfort in what can be
a lonely time.
“When you go through
fertility issues it can get so medical and technical. Andrea helps to cut
through that with humour and warmth. She keeps the conversation real and
reminds us all that behind all the appointments and blood tests, we are humans
trying to make more humans.”
Andrea’s fellow ITV
journalist and ITV News at Ten anchor, Juile Etchingham added, “Desperate
Rants and Magic Pants is a searingly honest account of the rollercoaster of
fertility treatment: the agonies of waiting, the lows of disappointment and
loss, and thankfully the highs of hope and joy.
“Anyone navigating
this hard journey has just found the warmest and most honest of companions in
Andrea, who has brought all of her journalistic skills to the most personal of subjects.”
Desperate Rants and
Magic Pans – Our Fertility Story by Andrea Byrne is out on 9th October and available from
local book shops and online. It costs £12.99.