TLC's Shauna Rae Gets Choked Up While Updating Fans on Her Fertility Journey

Shauna Rae teared up while sharing an update with fans about her fertility journey this week.

In a video update shared on YouTube on Tuesday, July 23, the TLC star explained that her doctors believe her fertility was impacted by her childhood battle with brain cancer and the chemotherapy treatments she underwent to fight it. Though she said she had “fully accepted” that she “was not going to have children” by age 16, exploring the possibility of having kids on the second season of her reality TV show I Am Shauna Rae gave her a new sense of hope.

However, Rae said that her number on the fertility scale dropped significantly in the last year alone. While she was 0.8 on the scale about one year ago—with doctors advising her that the average individual her age is between a one and a four—she is now at 0.41. That drop has made the 25-year-old worried that she will be infertile by the time she is 26.

While the reality TV star has explored the idea of freezing her eggs, she said her insurance has thus far denied coverage of the procedure, which she estimated would cost between $15,000 and $20,000. Rae has so far delayed the procedure, which she said she really wants to undergo, due to that hefty price tag.

“I just want the opportunity that everyone else has,” she said as she became choked up. “I don’t think it’s, like, fair, unfortunately. I think that everyone should have the rights to do those things, especially when people are so pressured to have children and keep children in this day and age. I think that you should give people the opportunity—that want the opportunity—to be able to do it the way they would like to do it.”

Rae reiterated that her health reality is “something that I couldn’t control,” adding, “It’s not like I knew about it at a young age.”

Despite the cost, Rae said she is aiming to undergo one or two procedures within the next six months if not sooner, to freeze her eggs. She recognized that the process itself will be arduous and isn’t a guarantee, and is worried that the longer she waits, the less chance she has of it being successful.

“With every day that passes, it probably is less of a chance,” she said.

Next: Alec Baldwin and His Family Are Getting a Reality Show on TLC: What We Know So Far