Savannah Guthrie is usually reporting the stories, but now she's sharing her own.
As an interview subject for the May issue of Health, the longtime Today co-anchor opened up about her journey to starting a family and self-acceptance. Spoiler alert: neither was easy or certain.
Back in 2014, newlywed Guthrie became a first-time mom when she and husband Mike Feldman welcomed their daughter Vale. "I knew it was the winning lottery ticket to have one child—I was 42 when I had her," she told the magazine. "So I never dreamed that I would have two."
However, she did in 2016 with the birth of her now-2-year-old son, Charley.
"But with Charley, I did do IVF. So I would say Vale was a miracle, and Charley was a medical miracle," she revealed. "When making that decision about whether to go through IVF, my husband and I talked about it a lot. I didn't want to start a process where we spent all of our present searching after some future...when our present was so lovely and beautiful and enough. But I also knew I would love for Vale to have a sibling—especially because we are older, it was important to me for her to have a sibling, somebody to do life with."
As she explained, making a sibling for her youngster was far from a seamless process. "My husband and I, we decided, 'OK, let's give it a shot,' you know? But it ended up taking more than one attempt. It took a few," she candidly shared with Health. "But we were lucky. I always say, Charley was, like, the last egg out. He really was. And we're so blessed."
Guthrie continued, "Going through what we did, it makes you realize that everything has to go just right to have a healthy baby. I really feel for so many women who are struggling and wishing and wondering, 'When's it gonna be my turn?' I know. And I understand."
The star also understands the importance of self-acceptance and seeking it for the sake of her daughter.
"I want to exercise because I know it's good for my mind and for my body. I'm not really berating myself into having some perfect figure because, frankly, I know it's unattainable for me," she told the magazine of her fitness regimen.
"It's a lifelong struggle for me," she said of reaching self-acceptance. "I've never once felt good about how I looked on the outside. I think all of us women spend so much time not feeling like we measure up. And what a waste of energy. I'm not there yet, but that's my goal. A lot of us have that mental dialogue where we look in the mirror and we're like, 'Ugh.' And that's just not healthy."
The Today star continued, "I really think about it with my daughter, because I just don't want to pass that on to her. It holds us back from joy. We should be happy and proud of our bodies, and proud to be 47 years old and still kickin'! That's great! Also, I never looked good in a bikini. So I'm not even sad or mourning some past glory. It never existed!"
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