Food Network star Katie Lee welcomes a baby girl after infertility struggles
Food Network star Katie Lee is a mother.
Lee, who co-hosts "The Kitchen," announced that she and her husband, TV producer Ryan Biegel, welcomed their first child, Iris Marion Biegel, on Wednesday.
The couple struggled with infertility before conceiving their daughter.
"Our hearts are so full," Lee captioned the post.
Lee, who turns 39 on Friday, revealed last year that she and Biegel planned to start a family immediately after their 2018 wedding, but to her surprise, she had difficulty getting pregnant. They went on to try in vitro fertilization (IVF), but it did not result in any healthy embryos.
During IVF, eggs are retrieved and then mixed with sperm to create embryos. Not all eggs fertilize, and not all embryos are considered healthy, according to the Mayo Clinic.
"It is really hard to put on a happy face. Fertility issues are supposed to be private so many of us are silently in pain," Lee wrote on social media at the time. "I hesitated to share this but I feel comfort when I hear others’ stories and I hope any of you in a similar situation know you are not alone. When people ask me when I’m getting pregnant, it hurts. It’s just a reminder that I’m not."
"At church on Easter, the priest started his sermon with a story about a family struggling to have a baby and the happiness they are now experiencing that their prayers have been answered. He said it is a time of new beginnings," she continued. "Tears streamed down my face. I know a family will happen for us, it is just going to be a different journey than we imagined. We will keep working towards it. Someday we will have our happy new beginning and I pray any of you experiencing the same will have yours too."
Lee shared in February that she was expecting. Alongside a photo that showed her pregnant stomach, the Food Network star wrote that she was "eating for two."
"Baby Biegel is on the way!" she added.
