Erin Andrews Gets Candid About Her IVF Experience
This Sunday, Sept. 10, marks the official kickoff of the 30th season of NFL on FOX with an exciting doubleheader with the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. New mom Erin Andrews, 45, who is host of the podcast Calm Down with Erin and Charissa and has her own line of NFL apparel called Wear, will be on the sidelines reporting on all the action.
Parade sat down with Andrews to discuss her long career in sports, her experience with IVF and more.
Walter Scott: After covering games all these seasons, do you still need to prepare?
Yes, my anxiety started probably when training camp started. You have players changing teams every single year, you have coaches being fired, joining new teams. You have new storylines. A huge part of my job is the prep.
Is the anxiety because it’s live?
It’s anxiety because we have 50 million people watching us. Listen, I’m not afraid to say there aren’t many of these positions available on these big primetime shows, so I’m so fortunate to have one. It’s a competitive field, it’s a competitive sport, I’m a female in the industry; I still have a huge chip on my shoulder because of that. I want to prove I still belong.
Related: These 25 Football Films Will Get You in the Touchdown Spirit for the New NFL Season
On a fun side note, I heard you are into stadium food. Do you rate the stadiums by who has your favorite foods?
Well, to be honest with you, I don’t really get to eat during the game. There’s no food on the sideline. My good friends Michael Strahan, Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw, they all get buffets, they get coffee makers, and they get sushi and desserts. Even better than that, they have bathrooms. I get nothing. I’m lucky if I can crush a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before, or if I can shove a granola bar down my throat because there’s not much time. So, I always give the guys a hard time.
Obviously, Fox is wonderful and a lot of times they’ll be like, “What can we get you? Do you want chicken fingers? You want a hot dog? You want a chicken sandwich?” I’m into stadium food because a lot of times that’s the only thing we can eat down where I am.
So, you’re like Ginger Rogers compared to the guys. You know how she said that she had to do everything Fred Astaire did but backwards and in high heels?
Oh, my gosh, I’ve never been compared to Ginger and I love every minute of it. But, yes, absolutely. I wouldn’t call Greg Olsen and Kevin Burkhardt Fred Astaire. No, I’m kidding, I love them very much.
Let’s be honest, when we do games at Lambeau Field in Green Bay during the playoffs in January, it’s -10 degrees, those guys complain they have to have the windows down in the press box so they can see. But they also have heated seats. I’m running around, can’t go to the bathroom, starving, it’s -10 and you’ve got to pee. But I love the job so much.
How much travel is involved? Will husband Jarret Stoll and son Mack [born June 28] come with you?
I travel about three days out of the week. It’s a quick turnaround. My husband actually works as well, so he’s got a job at home and he’ll be busy with that. I am not planning on bringing my infant on the road with me. It’s too hard on the road dealing with the quick turnarounds, the red-eyes, and [being] in and out of a loud stadium.
Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Your road to motherhood was a 10-year journey and you used a surrogate. Do we need to change the conversation about surrogacy?
For so many years, I just wanted to keep it quiet that I was doing this. I felt in a way like I was ashamed that I couldn’t have a baby the normal way, that everybody else was doing it. It was always the question in my marriage and always the question on sidelines with players and coaches, “Are you guys having kids?”
Once I realized that these waiting rooms were packed, and once I realized that I wasn’t alone, and on my eighth and on my ninth [IVF] try, I just was like, “This is ridiculous to be so quiet.” A lot of it, too, was frustration. I was just annoyed with the whole process and that my body wasn’t responding. Finally, one day in the packed waiting room—I’d always asked that they not say my name too loud; I don’t need, “Erin Andrews, we’re ready for your ultrasound”—I was like, “I don’t care.”
I was so tired of being quiet about it. I did a big article for Facebook about how the journey sucks, it’s really hard, and it’s been one of the most challenging things my husband and I’ve been a part of, and I want people to know they aren’t alone.
You’ve been anticipating motherhood a long time, but what has been the thing that surprised you about having Mack?
I feel like I’m getting choked up about it, but I think a big surprise for my husband and me was when I decided to be vocal about it ... I got so much support from the athletic community. Players would see me on the field as they’re getting ready for pregame warmups and they would say, “Hey, my wife wanted me to tell you that that really resonated for her,” or, “Hey, we’re thinking about you and Jarret.” I had so many athletes and coaches text me and DM me after we announced that we had Mack.
Related: Erin Andrews Shares First Photos of Newborn Baby Mack
Is all the support you’ve received why you became an advocate for Baby Quest Foundation, which provides financial assistance for procedures like IVF and surrogacy, so that you can support other women in return?
IVF, fertility clinics, surrogacy, all of this is very, very expensive. Now, one thing along with my journey was the fact that I had to deal with cervical cancer and there are bills with that [Andrews was diagnosed in September 2016 and is now cancer-free]. We learned about a lot of people’s stories that were going through cervical cancer [and] who had gone through medical hardships. You spend all your money doing that and then if you’re going to try to have a baby, and IVF and surrogacy is the only way, these people have already spent their money.
Through the surrogacy process, every check, every time we would get another bill, I would just think to myself, "This is so hard, and this is so hard for people who are not in our position to be able to have a baby."
The LBGTQ community, people that have dealt with cancer, people that have dealt with medical issues that then have to pay the bills for IVF and surrogacy, it just should not be looked at as a luxury. I want to become the poster child for helping these families out.
You also have your NFL apparel line, WEAR by Erin Andrews. How hands-on are you with the designs on that?
I tell our creative designers and our manufacturer what I like. I’m a very big tomboy; I like the staple items. They keep that in mind, and they go and they work their magic and they put designs together. Then they come to me when they have it all in a look book or a mood board and they say, “What do you like? What don’t you like?” I’m the first one to be like, “The tag is itchy on the back,” and they’re like, “Great. But what about the designs?”
Have you and Tom Bergeron stayed friends since your Dancing with the Stars exit?
Oh, my gosh, yes. He is my closest friend from that show. How could we not? Anyone that doesn’t appreciate Tom Bergeron’s dry sense of humor and wit, I can’t relate to. So, yes, he and I have stayed very good friends. I had to actually blow him off for lunch. I wasn’t telling anyone about the baby and he said to me, “Hey, can we get together? I’m in town for lunch.” It was right around when the baby would be born and I was like, “I’m kind of busy. Let me check.” Then after the baby was born, he texted me and he goes, “Now I realize why you were so busy.”
Tell us about your podcast, Calm Down with Erin and Charissa...
We’re females in the sports broadcasting profession, we both travel a lot, we talk about how people have lost their minds on planes and how badly they treat attendants, and what it’s like for us living in hotels, being a part of a man’s world. Also, for me, trying to juggle having a baby, my fertility years, getting married late. Charissa’s been married twice, she’s now dating, talking about the struggles of that.
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We figured everyone else has a podcast so why can’t we? I’ve had head coaches actually stop on the sidelines and not run to the locker room because I’ve talked about during podcasts that some of these coaches run so damn fast, I can’t run quick enough, my bra isn’t supportive enough. I actually had a head coach stop and walk with me and he goes, “I don’t want to be talked about on the podcast,” and I died.
Next, Everything You Need To Know About 'Dancing with the Stars' Season 32 (Including Who Isn't Returning)
