Ryan Libbey, the partner of television personality Louise Thompson, has candidly revealed his profound struggle to come to terms with their decision to pursue surrogacy for expanding their family. The couple's journey follows Thompson's harrowing near-death experience during the birth of their son Leo in 2021, which has led to significant ongoing health challenges.
A Traumatic Birth and Subsequent Health Battles
The 35-year-old reality television star has been openly documenting her experiences on social media after announcing plans to grow their family through alternative means. Thompson's emergency caesarean section during Leo's delivery triggered a cascade of medical complications that have fundamentally altered her reproductive health journey.
Following the traumatic birth, Thompson developed post-traumatic stress disorder and severe post-natal anxiety. Her health struggles have since included a diagnosis of Lupus, Asherman's syndrome, a second haemorrhage, and the necessity of a stoma bag. These cumulative challenges have made traditional pregnancy medically inadvisable, leading the couple to explore surrogacy as their only viable option for having another child.
Emotional Revelations on Their Podcast
During a particularly raw episode of their joint podcast "He Says She Says," Libbey confessed to his partner, "I am still struggling to accept it." The emotional exchange brought Thompson to tears as they discussed the complex fertility journey ahead.
"My motivation to enter this journey with fertility and surrogacy is because you were effectively robbed of being a mum to a newborn because you were so unwell," Libbey explained to Thompson. "Regardless of what I'm about to say next, I think that is really, really sad, and unfair, and not how it should be at all for any woman."
He continued, "That alone is enough of a reason for me to... I don't want to say go along with because that makes it sound like I haven't considered it, but that's enough pull for me to say yes to the idea of IVF and surrogacy."
The Surrogacy Struggle and Communication Breakthrough
Despite his commitment, Libbey admitted that surrogacy remains "still a really f**king bizarre thing for me and I am still struggling to accept it but that does not detract from the reason for it."
Thompson expressed profound relief at his openness, revealing that previous attempts to discuss expanding their family had been met with resistance. "If I tried to talk about it before, like in the car or something – I remember when we were going down to the Cotswolds – and you were like 'I don't want any of this, I can't do it, you're forcing me into something I don't want to do'," she recalled.
She now interprets his earlier reluctance as stemming from fear rather than opposition. "I know now that you're saying those things from a place of fear, and you're pushing away the conversation because what you're actually carrying is the fear that maybe we can't make this work," Thompson explained.
The IVF Journey and Medical Concerns
Libbey's apprehension extends beyond the conceptual acceptance of surrogacy to genuine concern about Thompson's physical wellbeing throughout the fertility process. "When you put on a gown and have a blood test, that's enough to send me off into a bad space," he admitted.
His fears center on Thompson voluntarily returning to hospital environments that hold traumatic associations. "And then, seeing you laying in a bed after a procedure, like the egg retrieval, which is nothing compared to what you've previously had, still hurts me," Libbey shared. "It's a very different thing being in it yourself and then witnessing someone you love going through something like that."
Fertility Milestones and Emotional Significance
Despite the challenges, the couple has reached a significant milestone in their fertility journey. Thompson recently announced via Instagram that they have successfully created one embryo through IVF, which is now "in the freezer" for potential future use.
Sharing a photograph of flowers from Libbey with the message "You did it. One in the freezer for safe keeps x," Thompson reflected on the emotional weight of their achievement. "Inside that sentence is a universe," she wrote in her caption.
She elaborated on the silent understanding between them: "Ryan isn't always comfortable communicating about this fertility stuff at home... sometimes he'll even threaten that it's too much for him to handle, but this bunch of flowers was all I needed to reassure me that we're reading from the same hymn sheet."
The Physical and Emotional Toll
Thompson detailed the extensive preparation behind their single embryo: "Those words hold years of planning, weeks of needles (years including the biologic-jak inhibitor-biologic switch), scans, waiting rooms, clenched jaws, forced optimism, and tears, lots of tears."
She described the process as "the kind of bravery nobody gives you a medal for - and why would they because we're chosen to pay to go through this process when we could just... not. We could just accept the cards we've been dealt. But I don't want our past trauma to dictate our future."
Medical Realities and Statistical Challenges
The couple's IVF journey has followed a challenging statistical path. "From our first cycle we went from seeing 20+ good looking follicles on the scan, to getting 8 eggs retrieved to holding onto hope that many of them would make it to day 5," Thompson explained.
Despite extensive research and preparation, they ended with a single viable embryo. "One embryo. One possibility. Not the perfect outcome. Especially with an AMH averaging 25," she noted, referencing her Anti-Müllerian Hormone levels which indicate ovarian reserve.
Thompson acknowledged the uncertainty: "It makes me wonder if something else is wrong. Not enough to say 'we're done'. But a chapter where something worked. And that feels like an ok place to start. So we're letting ourselves process that."
The couple now moves forward with cautious optimism, holding both their frozen embryo and their shared hope for expanding their family despite the complex emotional and medical landscape they navigate together.
