Olympia Valance has revealed the journey to expecting her first child with husband Thomas Bellchambers was heartbreaking.
The Australian model and actress, who announced her pregnancy this weekend, went through miscarriages and rounds of IVF before her “miracle baby” arrived.
The 31-year-old tells this week’s issue of Star Magazine who was so obsessed with having a baby that she let her career derail.
“It’s been four years where I was just thinking about babies. I completely lost myself,” the Neighbours star tells the publication.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my career anymore. I had no motivation because all I thought about was this.”
Olympia says she was “exhausted” by multiple miscarriages and had given up on IVF when she became pregnant again.
The star was “a couple of weeks away from having an IUD put in” when she received the good news.
She hid the pregnancy on social media until she turned 25 weeks this weekend and revealed she is expecting a boy.
Olympia Valance (pictured) has revealed the journey to expecting her first child with husband Thomas Bellchambers was heartbreaking.
Olympia announced the happy pregnancy news in an Instagram post on Saturday as she spoke candidly about her fertility struggles.
In photos shared on his social media account, Thomas, 35, held Olympia’s growing baby bump in his arms as she held a positive pregnancy test.
“I’ve been hiding for the past five and a half months to make sure this whole thing wasn’t a dream,” she began in her caption.
“But you kept growing and growing and it’s starting to feel like our dreams have finally come true.”
‘I was as open and honest as I could be about our struggles with infertility and I truly believed that this day was not going to be possible for us. So when I saw this positive pregnancy test, I have to admit, at the time, I wasn’t jumping for joy.
“I was so scared because that was all I knew. But as the weeks went by, it was hard to wipe the smile off our faces.”
The former Neighbours star highlighted her excitement about starting a family and thanked those who supported her during her “darkest days”.
Olympia announced the happy pregnancy news in an Instagram post on Saturday, while speaking candidly about her fertility struggles. She is pictured with husband Thomas
“To the little one we never thought we’d meet, we can’t wait to hold you in our arms. You were worth every tear, every setback, and every prayer,” she continued.
‘Thank you to all the people who supported us in the darkest days. I know I wouldn’t have made it this far without the strength of my family and friends, who managed to hold me up when I was falling apart.’
Olympia also paid tribute to families who have experienced fertility issues or pregnancy loss.
“It’s also incredibly important for me to acknowledge that while this is the best news in the world for Thomas and me, my heart aches for anyone who sees this and feels pain,” she said.
“I found it very difficult to write this because I feel like I’m caught between two worlds. It’s not an easy road and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. It’s an emotional rollercoaster.
“It’s been four years where I was just thinking about babies. I completely lost myself,” the Neighbours star said. “I didn’t know what I wanted in my career anymore. I had no motivation because all I was thinking about was this.”
Olympia says she was “exhausted” by multiple miscarriages and had given up on IVF when she became pregnant again.
‘Stay strong, keep fighting, but most importantly, don’t forget to be kind to yourself.’
In May, the former soap star said the lengthy IVF process left her exhausted and she hit a low point after a tragic miscarriage.
“My body was exhausted and my mind was exhausted,” he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
“I was always a happy, outgoing person, and I found myself becoming a bit of a hermit. I needed a complete reset.
In July 2023, Valance revealed that she had lost twin babies during the Covid pandemic and later that year revealed that she had a second miscarriage at six weeks.
“Thomas and I had a miscarriage with twins, right in the middle of the Covid pandemic, which as you can imagine was terribly painful,” she said in the clip.
“Since then we have not been able to conceive. It took two years of hard work,” the actress continued.
“For any woman or couple trying to get pregnant, there is no greater pain than looking down each month and seeing that the pregnancy test is negative. It breaks your heart in two.”
Olympia said she was reluctant to “go down the IVF route” because she’s “never been good with hormones.”
Olympia and footballer Thomas got married in June 2022
“Adding more hormones to my accelerated menstrual cycle is very scary,” she said, but said she was not seeing a fertility specialist.
“I want to have babies and I will do everything in my power to have them,” Olympia concluded.
Olympia and footballer Thomas tied the knot in June 2022.
The stars walked down the aisle and tied the knot in a picturesque ceremony attended by 250 family and friends in Daylesford, Victoria.
The couple later enjoyed their honeymoon in Greece, where they were joined by their sister, Holly Candy.
Olympia, who rose to fame when she joined Neighbours as Paige Smith in 2014, and Tom got engaged in October 2021.
The couple began dating in June 2019 after meeting him on the ultra-exclusive celebrity dating app, Raya.