Ola and James Jordan open up about their 'heartbreaking' fertility struggles

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Ola and James Jordan recently announced that they're expecting their first baby together! The couple, who got married in 2003, are currently 14-weeks-pregnant after undergoing IVF treatment, something the pair have been very open and honest about.

In an interview on Loose Women earlier today, Ola and James spoke out about raising awareness and reducing any stigma around IVF, and revealed that talking about it actually helped them on their own journey.

Ola explained how they'd struggled with fertility problems to start with, "When we decided to have children, it didn’t quite happen. It was heartbreaking. We always wanted to have children when we met."

She also revealed the heartbreak of starting to go through IVF and looking pregnant before she actually was, "It is really hard. You inject yourself every evening. You’re swollen even before you get pregnant.

"We had journalists saying, 'She hasn’t been drinking and she’s really swollen on the belly, she’s pregnant'. Actually, I’m going through fertility treatment, I was already quite swollen on the belly, so that’s quite hard."

James added that although they understood it didn't "come from a bad place", it was still hard for the couple to constantly be asked, "It was quite upsetting when you know you’re actively trying to get pregnant and you’re not.

"That’s why in the end we did the IVF story saying we can’t get pregnant. No one asked, our family, our friends, everyone gave us that respect that they didn’t ask. A lot of people don’t speak out – but it helped us by speaking out."

Ola opened up about the challenges that IVF treatment brings, "It’s really hard mentally more than physically. The injections didn’t bother me. The whole waiting game..." with James adding, "We have been so lucky – first go."

She also opened up about the moment she discovered she was pregnant, "I cried, I was over the moon. The thing is with IVF, because we couldn’t get pregnant for a long time, you don’t believe it. You’re like is it OK, is it normal. I waited for him to get home and I gave him the test because I couldn’t actually tell him. I couldn’t say it, I was so upset, so happy."

James added, "Amazing, I felt amazing. It’s a very special thing. But at the beginning I didn’t want to get too excited because I know lots of things can still happen. I was trying to be realistic. I didn’t want to get too disappointed. I’m like that in life in general."

He also said that he'd been in total awe of his wife, "For 14 weeks, she was throwing up every single day. Men could not go through that. Seeing what she’s been through does make me realise how strong women are."

Congratulations to the couple!

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• Ola Jordan
• James Jordan