“It’s important to know how IVF affects women’s bodies”: Kourtney Kardashian calls out body shamers
"Are we still asking women if they're pregnant?"
The Kardashian family, including Kourtney who turned 44 in April, 2023, returned to our screens in a new Hulu show, The Kardashians, after calling quits on Keeping Up With The Kardashians in June 2021 after two decades.
While they might have been off our screens, they certainly weren’t out of the limelight as fans ‘kept up’ with the famous family via their social accounts. And the gals certainly had a lot going on.
During their filming hiatus Kim got divorced, Kylie had a baby, Khloe and Tristan were embroiled in another cheating scandal and Kourtney’s romance with Blink 182 drummer, Travis Barker, got steamier and steamier.
The eldest Kardashian daughter married her Blink-182 rocker, Travis Barker, and planned to grow their family, which meant undertaking IVF, the side effects of which saw Kourtney trolled heavily online as her body changed.
In happier news, since the body shaming incident Kourtney and Travis are expecting their first child together, with the pregnant celeb mama due to deliver around November 2023. The delighted couple shared their news in June.
People continued to speculate about Kourtney Kardashian’s body.
Even after she called out the body shamers in the past, the hate still continued with keyboard warriors again questioning if she’s pregnant after seeing her in a promo video for a ‘vaginal health gummy’.
Kourt shared behind-the-scenes footage of the advert shoot in which she wears figure-hugging bright yellow pants and a short top with a fluffy collar, and the keyboard warriors started questioning “Is the pregnant?”
Jumping to defend her, others posted comments like “She also had 3 babies, give her a break”, “Y’all worried about her pregnancy-meanwhile her toes don’t fit in her shoes 😂 let’s redirect our focus 😂” and (our favourite) “WHY ARENT WE TALKING ABOUT HER ARM”.
The eldest Kardash didn’t need anyone else to defend her, however, and in response to comments like “You’re pregnant?????” she again rose the topic of IVF and how it impacts women’s bodies.
Tagging a particular commenter, Kourt replied: “the after affects of IVF (I only acknowledge this before I think it’s important to know how IVF affects women’s bodies and it’s not spoken about much) …Also are we still asking women if they’re pregnant?”
While the official trailer for The Kardashians did the rounds (see above) and touched on her IVF journey, another ‘teaser’ trailer was published, possibly by accident as it was quickly deleted. That clip showed mum-of-three, Kourtney revealing that her attempts to conceive a baby via IVF had “put her into menopause” and caused weight gain that saw her socials flooded with “rude” comments.
In the now deleted clip, the Poosh founder is seen opening up to her mother Kris Jenner about her journey to welcoming a fourth child, her first with fiancé Travis.
A downcast Kourtney who shares 13yo Mason, 10yo Penelope and 9yo Reign with ex Scott Disick, said her IVF journey had “not been the most amazing experience”, revealing that she had “gained so much weight” and drawn the attention of Instagram trolls.
In the show. Kourtney shared her fertility struggles amid her dream of having a baby with rocker beau Travis Barker.
“I’m, like, it’s so rude to comment on people when you have no idea what they’re going through,” she said.
“The medication that they’ve been giving me, they put me into menopause,” she added. “Literally into menopause.”
Confused, Kris replied, “Based off of what? A drug?” before Kourtney replied, “Yes!”
While, Kourtney didn’t clarify if she remained menopausal, fertility drugs have been known to cause symptoms that are very similar to those experienced during menopause, including hot flashes, weight gain, changes in mood, and bloating.
In December the reality star called out a rude fan who joined other in commenting on a series of images of a very loved-up Kourtney and Travis in a pool, asking if she had a “pregnancy belly?”
“Are we really going to do this every time I post a photo?” the reality star replied.
It was another six months before the couple revealed that they were having a baby.
IVF in Australia
By 2023 it is likely one child in every Aussie kindergarten classroom will be conceived via IVF.
This statistic comes from the most recent Australian New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database and it means that within just a couple of years, one child in every class of 20 children will have been conceived in an incubator, with the help of doctors, nurses and scientists.
Australia is one of the safest countries in the world for IVF treatment, with a number of national and state guidelines and licencing requirements covering how IVF is practiced in Australian fertility clinics. In Australia, IVF treatment is funded through a combination of Australia’s universal insurance scheme – Medicare, private health insurance, and out-of-pocket patient expenses. The cost to patients varies between clinics and the type of treatment undertaken and is best discussed with your fertility clinic.
IVF treatment is offered by around 80 fertility clinics across Australia that are accredited by the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand.
It can be difficult to compare IVF clinics, so the Australian Government has funded the Your IVF Success website, to provide you with independent information on all fertility clinics in Australia.
