Amy Hart: ‘Society Vilifies Childless Women, But It Doesn’t Do Anything To Help Them’

After two rounds of unsuccessful treatment to get her eggs frozen, it's been third time lucky for Amy Hart{ =nofollow}. The former Love Islander, 28, has managed to freeze five eggs, which is something she's wanted to do for a long time, particularly after a fertility MOT in January last year which confirmed what she suspected: that she was probably going to go through the menopause early.

'I knew that I wanted to have a baby, regardless of whether I met someone,' Amy tells Grazia over the phone. 'So then just doing research into that I sort of realised that egg freezing would probably be a good route to go down. I've got friends that are in their 50s that haven't gone through the menopause yet, whereas my mum and my nan and my aunty all went through the menopause at 41.' She adds: 'This morning [it was in the news that EastEnders actress] Kellie Bright is pregnant at 44, which is amazing, but that's just not going to happen for me.'

Thanks to lockdown, Amy is grateful she has had a less hectic schedule to go through the hormone treatment, which involves injecting yourself numerous days in a row to stimulate the eggs, before they are then removed. 'I wasn't like a she devil like I thought I was going to be,' she laughs. 'But I think a lot to do with that is lockdown, there's only really so stressed you can get when you're lying in bed watching The Real Housewives.'

On Instagram, Amy has been open with her 1.1 million followers about her fertility journey, something which she hasn't been hesitant about sharing. 'You have to be honest with your audience,' she says, matter-of-factly. 'I read an article the other day by a big fertility doctor saying that there are all these celebrities are having babies at 48, 52, 54 - and they don't mention that it's with donor eggs or a surrogate, which then gives false hope to women.'

She also adds that she has a lot of people around her who have been through similar treatments, which is one of the reasons she has been so open. 'I speak to people, and I forget that it's not as normal I think it is,' she says. 'So [I'm like] I am freezing my eggs at the moment. And people are like, oh, okay, let's try to change the subject because they find it uncomfortable.'

Amy{ =nofollow}is aware she is very fortunate. Her parents have paid for her treatment so far, with the cost at around £7,500. But she knows through her friends that some people may struggle getting fertility treatment on the NHS. 'I always say this: society vilifies childless women, but then it doesn't do anything to help,' she says. 'It stigmatises single mums. Solo IVF is so expensive, and you're on half the income anyway. And there's no IVF help for single mums or for same sex couples.' She lists some examples, saying some of her followers have contacted her because they haven't been able to get help after previously having a miscarriage when they were younger, or having a partner who already has a grown-up child.

As well as sharing her story on Instagram, the reality star has also been on Loose Women and has documented her journey on YouTube. 'For the most part, it's been very positive,' Amy says, talking about the reaction and discussions about her treatment. But she says there have been some people questioning whether she's too young to freeze her eggs, and that some have already started attacking her for, hypothetically, being a single mum in the future. 'But I have such an amazing network,' she says. 'And I think I wouldn't be doing it on my own. And I've always said I've got so many friends who couldn't, and didn't, plan to be single mum. And if you go into it planning then you you've got your people around you.'

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