HGTV's Mina Starsiak Says Donor Egg Is Now Her 'Only Option' to Carry Another Baby After Failed IVF

Mina Starsiak is keeping her followers updated on her fertility journey.

The Good Bones star, 35, opened up about the latest news on her and husband Stephen Hawk‘s quest to give their 16-month-old son Jack Richard a sibling, revealing over the weekend that she doesn’t “have high hopes” of being able to use her own eggs after her doctor told her she may need to consider another path.

“I did get an update a bit ago, but needed some time to process with my husband,” Starsiak captioned a Sunday selfie with her sleeping son. “We were told another round of [in vitro fertilization] would be unsuccessful and our only option for me to carry another baby would be with a donor egg.”

Earlier this month, the HGTV personality revealed that the one embryo she had unfortunately “did not get bigger” following its fertilization process and initial cell division, leading to a failed IVF round. She initially planned to try one more round of hormones and egg retrieval until getting the news about potentially needing to use a donor egg.

“Not only was this not expected EVER, it definitely wasn’t this soon in the process,” she added on Sunday. “After sitting with it a bit, we’re doing the reasonable thing and getting a second opinion, although I don’t have high hopes it will result in anything different. So that’s where we are.”

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On Dec. 14, Starsiak shared an image of herself being prepped for another tattoo on her rib cage area, promising at the time that she would “explain later.”

“That’s the tattoo, Jacks name; nothing uniquely life shattering but it felt right,” she wrote on Sunday. “There is more to come. I’m not sure what it is yet. But it doesn’t feel over.”

“I’ve been sharing my fertility ride publicly bc of the thousands of messages from women it’s helping … but I never anticipated what I would do if it wasn’t successful,” Starsiak admitted earlier in her caption. “That option hadn’t even entered my mind.”

Last month, Starsiak revealed to her followers that she and Hawk were set to begin an IVF cycle after several months of trying to conceive baby No. 2 on their own. She previously opened up about undergoing a hysterosalpingogram, or HSG — a test doctors often use to examine a woman’s uterus and Fallopian tubes — as well as using acupuncture to potentially help with fertility.

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Notably, IVF bypasses the use of the Fallopian tubes, as it involves doctors extracting eggs directly from a woman’s ovaries before fertilization attempts are made, followed by a subsequent transfer of embryo(s) into the uterus in hopes of implantation and a healthy live birth. As of 2018, it was reported that 8 million babies have been born worldwide as a result of IVF since 1978.

Amid receiving her difficult news, Starsiak, Hawk and Jack were surrounded by loved ones over Christmas, posing in front of a gorgeous holiday display for one group snapshot with their “crazy family.”

“This is our tradition every year; wait till all the kids are in town, typically 4 days before Christmas, engage in a fairly stressful group text regarding scheduling our Xmas picture, we all meet at my dads house (typically late) and do our best to keep the youngest ones from losing it long enough to snap this bad boy next to my dads giant tree to send out to friends and fam,” she captioned the shot.

“It’s poorly planned, hectic, stressful and I wouldn’t change it or trade my people for anyone in the world ??,” Starsiak added. “I hope you love your crazy as much as I do this year, and all the years. #rideordies“