Reality TV personality Kourtney Kardashian has announced that she is pregnant with her fourth child, her first conceived with husband Travis Barker, drummer for the rock band Blink-182. Barker has two children from a previous marriage as well.
Kardashian openly discussed the details of her conception, which was natural, due to what she described as an overwhelmingly negative experience with in-vitro fertilization (IVF). She shared the news in a viral Instagram post, in which she held up a sign saying, “Travis, I’m pregnant!” as a callback to the Blink-182 “All The Small Things” music video.
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E! News covered the history of their relationship leading up to the pregnancy, which included trying IVF. In the first season of “The Kardashians,” the couple can be seen on camera consulting with doctors about beginning the process. Ultimately, however, she admitted that she hated everything it entailed.
“It hasn’t been the most amazing experience,” she said on the show. “Every single person on social media is always like, ‘Kourtney’s pregnant. Kourtney’s gained so much weight.’ And I’m like, it’s so rude to comment on people when you have no idea what they’re actually going through.”
Kardashian claimed the IVF drugs caused her to gain weight, and also put her into early menopause. By September of 2022, the couple announced they were done with IVF, which she talked about, again, on her show.
“We would love a baby more than anything, but I just really believe what God has in store for us,” she said, adding:
If that’s a baby, then I believe that will happen. I had seven frozen eggs from years ago, before Travis. When I was 38 or 39, everyone was, like, pushing me to do that, and most of mine didn’t survive the thaw, because eggs are one cell, and then none of them made it to an embryo.
The freezing of the eggs isn’t guaranteed, and I think that that’s, like, a misunderstanding. People do it thinking that it’s a safety net, and then it’s not.
Whatever is meant to be, I’m also… we have a full, blessed life and I’m happy. All the things that came along with IVF took a toll on me physically. My health is still impacted, because it’s hormones. And also, like, mentally, it definitely, like, took a toll. So, I think just being happy is most important, and being a good parent to my kids. We are just embracing that, whatever’s meant to be.
She also discussed IVF in an appearance on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast.
“I felt like we kind of got pushed into doing IVF,” she said. “If you look online, it says if you’re over 40 go right away to an IVF doctor. So I felt a little bit pushed.” She further criticized the IVF process and the effect it has had on her when people pointed out that her appearance has seemingly changed, and criticized the reproductive industry for not being open with women about what to expect.
“The after affects of IVF,” she wrote in response to a follower. “I only acknowledge this comment because I do think it’s important to know how IVF affects women’s bodies and it’s not spoken about much.”
In May 2023 episodes of the show, Kardashian talked about how the couple was tracking her cycles and monitoring when she ovulated, making it appear that her pregnancy ultimately was natural.
Both of Kardashian’s sisters, Kim and Khloe, used surrogates for their children; Kim claimed it was a medical need, as she experienced placenta accreta during both of her pregnancies, and pre-eclampsia during her first. Khloe never explained why she pursued surrogacy, but she later said she felt the experience was “transactional” and made it difficult for her to bond with her son.
