Dax Shepard Offered to Be Tom Arnold's Sperm Donor—and Kristen Bell Was Cool With It!

54-year-old funnyman revealed he went through 21 rounds of in vitro fertilization with his four spouses

By Alyssa Toomey Jan 31, 2014 6:54 PMTags
Dax Shepard, Tom Arnold, Kristen BellMichael Kovac/WireImage

Apparently, Dax Shepard is one generous dude.

During an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show on Thursday, Jan. 30, Tom Arnold revealed that the Parenthood star once offered to be the Hit and Run actor's sperm donor while Arnold and his fourth wife Ashley Groussman were struggling to conceive.

And the best part? Kristen Bell was totally cool with her hubby's selfless offer!

"I have a very low sperm count," the 54-year-old funnyman told the talk show host. "I found out in college, at the University of Iowa. I worked at the hospital school, and they said, 'Hey, you can donate blood or plasma,' which I always did for beer money. And then there was a sign that said, 'You can donate sperm for $35.' And I was like, 'Now I know what I'm doing with my life! I'll do that three times a day!' And they [tested] it, and they were like, 'Yeah, your sperm does not work.'"

While that was great news for Arnold at the age of 18, his situation proved to be problematic as he tried, and failed, to have children later in life with each of his three wives, Roseanne Barr, Julie Lynn Champnella, and Shelby Roos.

Arnold revealed he had gone through 21 rounds of in vitro fertilization with all of his spouses and had basically "given up" on being a father, but his fourth wife Ashley "really wanted" to try to have children.

"She [Ashley] was three or four months [when she miscarried]," he shared. "I think the thing is, as a husband, because I'd been down this road, I knew in my heart it wouldn't work. I wanted to go immediately to a doctor. I wanted to do a sperm donor."

"My friend Dax Shepard offered to donate his sperm," he continued. "And his wife Kristen Bell allowed that. And it was about the nicest thing ever. And I wanted to do that but Ashley wanted to keep trying."

Eventually, with a little help from pal Sharon Stone, Groussman was able to get pregnant again.

"Sharon Stone is really nice, a great friend. She's done so well, she has a wonderful family," Arnold said. "She writes, she says, 'Go to this guy,' and we basically met with him, and we were coming out of there and we found out, 'Oh [Ashley's] pregnant."

The lovebirds, who wed in 2009 with Shepard serving as Arnold's best man, welcomed son Jax Copeland on Saturday, April 6.

Little Jax celebrated the big 0-6 (as in six months) on October 6 and Arnold took to his WhoSay page to share an aww-worthy photo of his son.

"This happy little man turned 6 months old today and I feel the exact same way," Arnold captioned the adorable pic of his smiling little man.

Too cute! Can't wait to celebrate Jax's first birthday with you, Tom.