Susan Sarandon's Pregnancy Advice Won't Work for Everyone

on February 13, 2012 at 10:55 AM

Susan Sarandon has the answer for any women having a hard time getting pregnant -- especially those diagnosed with endometriosis: "Eat and drink and f**k and you'll probably get pregnant." Hear that, ladies? It's as simple as that.

The 65-year-old actress, who is mom to 26-year-old Eva Amurri, recently admit that her daughter was conceived on the Spanish Steps in Rome. She said that until she visited this iconic part of Italy, she had great difficulty conceiving due to endometriosis. But then one wild night, boom, it just happened. Her full quote is: "If anyone out there's having trouble getting pregnant, go to Italy. Have a summer and don't worry about it and eat and drink and ... f**k, and you'll probably get pregnant. And that's what happened with Eva on the Spanish Steps."

Sounds romantical. And so European. But, get real, getting pregnant when you have fertility issues isn't always as cut and dried as swilling some pinot noir and getting busy on set of 300-year-old stairs.

Susan was lucky. And it's great that her daughter was conceived the way she was -- it's a hell of a story. But the truth is for many other women suffering from endometriosis, or other fertility issues, it isn't that easy. And making it seem like it is, is, well, a little insensitive if you ask me.

Clearly, Sarandon knows the pains and stresses of futily trying to have a child. She's even said that it was a "devastating" experience, learning as a young woman that she might not get pregnant naturally. So, why be so flippant now? Yes, she was one of the lucky ones -- did she totally forget what it was like before her tryst on the Spanish Steps? How would she have felt if someone said something so nonchalant to her when she was in the throes of sadness, pain, and frustration? Not very good, I bet.

I'm happy that Susan Sarandon is one of the women who triumphed over endometriosis -- it's always uplifting to hear such stories. But I wish she would remember "what it was like when." Or at least be a little more sensitive when talking about it.

Have you had trouble conceiving? Do Susan Sarandon's words anger you or give you hope?

Image via david_shankbone/Flickr

About the author Nicole Fabian-Weber

has the world's most gorgeous dog. It's a fact.

Filed Under: infertility

Comments (11)

Nonmember comment from cookie

on Feb 13, 2012 at 11:04 AM

I think what she means is take time to relax and just have a good time doing it. It's like finding a man. You find one when your not looking.

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jessicasmom1

on Feb 13, 2012 at 11:05 AM

WOW OH WOW!!

TC00

on Feb 13, 2012 at 11:10 AM

Umm yeah I think she was saying that off handed. I highly doubt she really expects people to follow her advice.

Melissa042807

on Feb 13, 2012 at 11:29 AM

Yes, because we can all afford to take an entire summer off and stay in Italy. :-P

I think the heart of what she said, though, was to not let the stress get to you. I've never been through infertility but I have friends who have, and they all say without fail that it is SO HARD to not let the stress take over and get you down, which has been shown to affect the ability to conceive. I mean, how many stories do we hear about couples who have tried and tried and tried to get pregnant, and then BAM, it happens when they're not even thinking about it? It doesn't happen to everyone, but it does happen. I think that's what she was getting at, in her own unique Susan Sarandon way.

femaleMIKE

on Feb 13, 2012 at 11:45 AM

I've heard this advice before so its not that shocking to me.

Yes, I have had problems getting pregnant. People give me the dumbest advice and love to ask me about when I'm going to have a baby. You would think that the facts that I have been married for 10 years and and obviously I love babies , would clue them in on the fact that I am having trouble and they are being rude. I just pretend I don't want any.

the worst advice was "stop thinking about and it will happen" really? thats all i need to do.

Mixer_Star

on Feb 13, 2012 at 12:52 PM

Yep, if I had the time and money to go chill out in Italy for the summer, I'm sure I'd be pregnant, too.

Tell that to my ovaries.

Nonmember comment from jo

on Feb 13, 2012 at 5:19 PM

Actually, she wasn't trying to get pregnant, it was a surprise, she was under the impression she just couldn't. Nor, I'm sure, was she trying to offend anyone, it was just a comment.

Teri_25

on Feb 13, 2012 at 8:47 PM

While I don't think she intended it to come off as mean-spirited, it does bother me a bit that someone who had endometriosis would think it is that easy. It was a long 15 months for me, and included excruciating labor like pain/cramping every month that I didn't conceive and testing that was painful as well. To hear someone say, "relax, it'll happen" just makes me roll my eyes. Expect me to relax when it feels like labor for the first 6 days of my cycle? Sure, just load me up on painkillers and alcohol. Sheesh.

corrinacs

on Feb 14, 2012 at 1:23 PM

I would like to see the full context of what she said. I am glad it worked for her, but for me it wasn't quite the case. I did have a co-worker that gave me similar advice while I was trying (and failing miserably) at infertility treatments. The hormones I was injecting into myself almost gave way and he almost had a fist in his face LOL.

But he had an excuse. He doesn't know the face of infertility.

Nonmember comment from shari

on Feb 15, 2012 at 4:01 PM

Honestly, it was the same for me. I was 32 before finally getting pregnant and the doctor backtracked date of conception to a night I was really uninhibited, drank, ate, had sex with my man. I also have health issues where pregnancy was a question. Now we have an adorable almost 2 year old :-)