Maria Menounos is opening up about the time friends shamed her decision to have a child via surrogate.
“They were friends. One of them worked for me for a while,” Menounos, 46, shared on the Monday, January 13, episode of the “Women in the Nude” podcast.
“This is somebody who was, like, so sweet and I, like, loved,” she explained to host Sasha Pieterse. “She said to my husband, ‘What do you mean she can’t carry? Like, that doesn’t make any sense.’”
“And he goes, ‘Her neurosurgeon — the top neurosurgeon in the world — said she can’t carry.’ And she was like, ‘I just don’t get it. It just doesn’t make any sense.’”
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Following that exchange, Menounos cut ties with her friend.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to talk to you again,’” She recalled. “It’s one thing to be judged by outside people who don’t know and don’t get it. But you actually know me, and you know what we’ve gone through. For you to even say anything so judgmental is just crazy to me.”
Menounos and husband Keven Undergaro welcomed their daughter, Athena Alexandra, through a surrogate in June 2023.
The former E! News anchor had faced infertility issues that led to IVF treatments, which were halted when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2017. The tumor was removed and she was given a clean bill of health, but her neurosurgeon advised her against carrying a child.
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When Menounos and Undergaro’s first surrogate fell through in 2020, Menounos had all but given up hope — then she joyously announced in February 2023 that they’d found another and were expecting a baby.
“Athena is our miracle baby,” the “Heal Squad” podcast host told Us after her daughter’s birth. “I’m so grateful for her.”
Menounos expanded on Athena’s impact on her life in an interview with Us last November, saying, “It’s been the greatest gift. I think the first thing that I felt after she was born is that I finally knew where I belonged. And that was a really incredible feeling. I didn’t feel like I was chasing after anything anymore. And she’s just magic. And I just love every second of it. She’s just brought so much joy to all of us, and I’m so grateful.”
As for whether or not she sees more kids in their future, Menounos told Us that “it would be a dream.”
“We’ve already discussed that we wanted to. The second she was born, I’m like, ‘I want more, I need more,’” she said. “And then we were kind of like, ‘Well, let’s wait ‘till she’s old enough so that transition feels good for her.’ So she doesn’t feel like a loss; she feels like a gain and that she’s got a new role. So that’s kind of what we’re thinking.”
