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In February 2010, Padma Lakshmi welcomed her beautiful daughter Krishna into the world -- a moment the Top Chef host thought would never happen.
Lakshmi was 36 when she was diagnosed with endometriosis -- a reproductive disease that's one of the leading causes of infertility. In a new Redbook video series, The Truth About Trying, Lakshmi opens up about her struggle to become a mom.
"I learned that it would become very, very difficult, if not impossible, for me to actually have a child of my own," she says. "And certainly I was told that it would be impossible for me to have my own child naturally. You can imagine how I felt at that moment in my late 30s."
But Lakshmi turned out to be one of the lucky ones; she's now 41 and has a healthy 1-year-old daughter (whose father is venture capitalist Adam Dell).
"I froze my eggs just as insurance -- and then totally through a miracle, I just got pregnant without planning on getting pregnant," the single mom says. "So, it was just a miraculous, happy surprise that I got pregnant. But I was lucky. I was definitely one of the very rare, rare cases of endometriosis -- of stage four of endometriosis -- that has had that happen."
But even though Lakshmi's story had a happy ending, she's still dedicating to raising awareness about the disease. In 2009 she co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America -- and through the Redbook video series, she's helping women learn that they don't have to be ashamed of infertility.
"I think infertility is one of those subjects that nobody likes to talk about for obvious reasons," she says. "It’s very personal, everybody’s different. It has to do with your sexuality, but it also has to do with your own feelings about your womanhood and all the cultural and religious and familial taboos wrapped around that. And we have insecurities about that, so why would we want to be open about something so touchy? But I think it’s important, as a community, to come together."
Watch Padma's video interview below:
