Olivia Munn, known for her roles in The Newsroom and X-Men Apocalypse, opened up about a deeply personal part of her motherhood journey.
The 44-year-old star and her husband John Mulaney, 42, welcomed their daughter Méi through surrogacy after Olivia’s breast cancer diagnosis in 2023.
The actress told People the wait made her feel like an expectant dad. After going through a double mastectomy and other major surgeries, Olivia also entered surgical menopause.
“It was important to do it at that moment, but it was also scary because my type of cancer feeds on hormones, and there are a lot of hormone injections with IVF,” she shared while talking about the fertility preservation process.
Her doctor created a unique IVF plan just for cancer patients, helping Olivia to collect seven eggs.
“At my age, about one in 10 eggs is healthy,” she explained.
After fertilisation, two embryos were “strong enough to be tested for abnormalities and the gender.”
She and John hoped for a girl, with Olivia saying: “I remember I was on a walk with John, and I said, ‘I really don’t think that I’ll be okay unless we get two girl embryos. I know this puts me at risk, but I just need you to support me,’” she recalled. Mulaney responded: “‘Whatever you need.’”
However, Olivia further said that she got the news that both embryos were female on the same day.
