Anne Hathaway reveals why she opened up about ‘devastating’ fertility struggles: ‘This is something people don't talk about’

'By leaving out the sad part, we make women who are struggling with this feel isolated and lonely'

(Getty Images)

Anne Hathaway has revealed why she felt compelled to open up about her fertility struggles, explaining that she wants to support to women with similar experiences by opening up a conversation.

On 24 July, the actor announced on Instagram that she is pregnant with her second child with husband Adam Shulman by uploading a black and white photograph of her and her bump.

In the caption of the image, the Oscar winner wrote: “For everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies. Sending you extra love.”

The post received an overwhelmingly positive response, with more than 3.8 million likes and thousands of her followers praising the Devil Wears Prada star for her candour about such a sensitive topic.

Now, in a new interview with the Daily Mail, Hathaway explained she wanted to speak out about her struggle to get pregnant because “this is something people don’t talk about” and she wants to change that.

The 36-year-old actor recalled trying to get pregnant over and over again while continually seeing other people around her successfully conceive, which she said tormented her.

“What made matters worse was that I was embarrassed to feel like that because there was no conversation to be had about it,” Hathaway continued.

“So, when I was writing that post, I was thinking about that one follower I might reach, the woman who’s in hell about this and can’t figure out why it’s not happening for her.

“She’s going to see my announcement and, while I understand she will be happy for me, I also know that something about it will make her feel worse. I just wanted to say: ‘Look, this wasn’t as easy for me as it looks.’"

Hathaway explained that Instagram can sometimes perpetuate idealised versions of reality that misleadingly “makes life look really breezy”. But she said that this veil of perfection can make things worse for those going through a tough time, particularly those who might be battling infertility.

“By leaving out the sad part, we make women who are struggling with this feel isolated and lonely; we make them feel like it’s all their fault. I wanted to be more sensitive than that,” she continued.

Hathaway revealed that since posting about her difficulties with fertility, she has been inundated with messages from women with similar experiences.

“When I said to them: ‘This has happened to me, it broke my heart, it broke me,’ so many of them said: ‘It happened to me, too,’ and that was the thing that allowed me to come through it, to feel my pain without having anyone rush in to define it or cure it,” she explained.

“To be able to understand what was going on beyond blaming myself or blaming my body.”

According to the NHS, roughly one in seven couples may have difficulty conceiving.