Naomi Watts (left), Sasha Schreiber and Kai Schreiber (center); Naomi Watts' new book, “Dare I Say It Everything I Wish Id Known About Menopause”.Photo:Michael Buckner/Golden Globes 2024/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Crown
Michael Buckner/Golden Globes 2024/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Crown
Naomi Wattsis getting candid about her motherhood journey.
In her new book,Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause,Watts, 56, opened up about her struggle to conceive during her relationship with actorLiev Schreiber. The new author wrote that she was “determined to get pregnant as soon as possible.”
“Because of my hormone levels, I wasn’t a candidate for IVF, but I tried fertility drugs like Clomid and procedures like intrauterine insemination (IUI),” she wrote in her book, which was released on Tuesday, Jan. 21. “I would have eaten my dog’s toenails if someone told me it would help.”
“I tracked my ovulation and checked my temperature on the regular,” she continued. “I even got scans to see the follicles and the eggs forming, and we’d have sex at the exact optimal moment for conception. None of it worked.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Naomi Watts (center) with her kids.Naomi Watts Instagram
Naomi Watts Instagram
Watts added that her “obsession” with getting pregnant created a strain on her relationship with her partnerLiev Schreiber. However, she couldn’t bring herself to give up on conceiving.
“I was peeing on sticks constantly, both to track my ovulation and to check for pregnancy if my period was even an hour late. I was monitoring the pH of my vagina because I’d heard that sperm do better in an alkaline environment than an acidic one. I spent so much money, but I would have mortgaged my house to try to solve this problem,” she continued.
When she finally conceived, Watts was in the midst of filmingEastern Promisesand had to perform her own stunts, including riding “a three-hundred-pound Russian motorbike.” Having previously experienced a miscarriage, she felt it was “too early” to tell anyone she was pregnant.
“I also didn’t want to tell anyone yet, because it was so early, and because I didn’t want to be difficult, so I just kept going,” theEmmanuellestar wrote. “It was yet another example of how as women we often do things that put us at risk in order to be team players.”
However, a few weeks later while filming a scene with fellow actress Sinéad Cusack, shefelt her first flutter.
Naomi Watts with her family for Kai’s graduation.Naomi Watts Instagram
Watts went on to welcome two children — Sasha, 17, and Kai, 16 — with Schreiber, 57. The pairended their 11-year relationshipin 2016.
Looking back at her own journey, as well as other woman’s struggles around her, Watts learned the importance of having “compassion for ourselves.”
source: people.com
