Molly Bernardis opening up about her fertility journey.
“And my doctor said, ‘I honestly think you and Hannah, however you decide, should get some sperm and try to have sex at home, the way a lot of the world does it. I would recommend you seeing if that works before you do any fertility stuff, because it could be really fruitful.'”
Bernard says that in the years since she first inquired about getting pregnant, early in her and Lieberman’s relationship, the process has “always been in the back of my mind.”
Molly Bernard
Bernard then learned about how to tell the body’s best timing for pregnancy, from measuring LH levels to monitoring ovulation. It wasn’t long before the couple found success.
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 juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“I had just wrapped a movie in Los Angeles and I was ovulating and Hannah and I wanted to try that month. So, she flew out and as a wrap gift, we were able to have sex in the privacy of our own space and my wife inseminated me,” Bernard shares. “It miraculously worked.”
Sharing their pregnancy news with family and friends was an exciting and emotional experience for the pair, who later decided to take their journey to the public in hopes of helping others trying to start their families.
“We were able to get pregnant at home and using Mosie was simple, private, accessible and affordable,” the actress says. “And our line for people who ask, people love to know, ‘how did it happen, how did you do it?’ And I say, ‘Hannah and I just had sex without a condom one night and like I got pregnant,’ which is funny, but also partially true.”
Bernard continues, “We feel so lucky. We know that this is not the norm, that many couples struggle with fertility issues. Queer or hetero, it doesn’t matter. And so we just feel so lucky that this worked and that we were able to do it in a non-clinical setting, which was truly so special for us.”
It was especially important for Bernard and Lieberman, who is non-binary, to get the message out to the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think there’s both like a cult of secrecy around the reality of pregnancy, whether it be getting pregnant and then actually being a pregnant body. We have some queer elders who we spoke to and we were prepared for both possible success at home and having to go other routes,” Bernard shares.
“As a queer couple, let that be your first attempt. We honestly had no idea,” Bernard notes. “We didn’t think that it was possible but with all the research we did, the classes that we took, the preparation, and me peeing on those silly LH sticks every day for two months it worked. We’re just so very, very grateful.”
Bernard is also grateful for the sage mom advice she’s gotten fromclose friend and former costarHilary Duff, as well as Duff’s circle of mom friends which includesMandy Moore.
“Hilary is basically my mom at this point,” Bernard says with a laugh. “I literally call her or text her and say, ‘hey mom, I got a question,’ — every little ailment I’ve had, every pain, every bloat, every first kick. She’s been my fearless guide.”
After running into Moore, anewly-minted mom of two, while spending time with Duff, she also offered Bernard some advice.
“I recently saw Mandy when I was in L.A. and she was a few weeks postpartum and just glowing,” Bernard says, explaining she shared some of her pregnancy fears with theThis Is Usalum.
“It’s funny, [pregnancy] is the most ubiquitous thing I’ve ever done because everyone has been in a womb,” she notes. “And it’s the most isolating thing and when you reach out to people who’ve done it, it’s just there’s an amazing closeness and solidarity because it’s a tough big physical undertaking.”
“Fertility is not straightforward. We want to democratize this experience because there’s a fetishism and a stigma around queer couples having babies,” Bernard notes. “We are entitled to have beautiful, loving families, just as much as any hetero couple on the planet. So know that and stick true to your family.”
source: people.com
