Celebrity Celebrity Family Celebrity Parenting Whitney Port Undergoes IVF Again as She 'Falls More in Love' with Being a Mom to Son, 6 (Exclusive) The podcasting mom opens up about her journey so far and why she's not stressing what's next By Angela Andaloro Angela Andaloro Angela Andaloro is a Society & Culture Staff Writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, and LittleThings. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 23, 2024 08:00AM EDT Whitney Port and son Sonny. Photo: Whitney Port/Instagram Whitney Port is getting more candid than ever before on her struggles with fertility. Speaking with PEOPLE about her partnership with Perelel on Fertility, Unfiltered — a video series that pulls back the curtain on the detours, twists and turns on the road to parenthood— the boy mom discusses the struggles of her own road to expanding her family. Port and husband Tim Rosenman have been trying to welcome a second baby for two years after son Sonny Sanford's birth in 2018. The reality TV alum, 39, says her journey has been a "long and trying one." "Sonny will be 7 in July, and I had my first miscarriage when he was 2 years old," she tells PEOPLE. "But basically, the first time, I was someone who got pregnant very easily. Then, the second time around, we've just struggled. There's been miscarriage after miscarriage." "We decided to go to a fertility specialist, Dr. Huang, who's a part of Perelel on their board, just to check out what was going on. At that moment, I realized it wasn't best for me to carry, nor could I, physically." The couple has also tried surrogacy, which resulted in another two difficult losses. In Fertility, Unfiltered, Port undergoes a round of in vitro fertilization (IVF). "I've never really shared that. I've talked about it on my podcast and I've shared little tidbits, but this really like follows me going into the doctor's office and uncovering and facing the unknown and the fears of what might not work and what can be so overwhelming on this journey." Port continues, "At the moment, after two miscarriages with the surrogate and multiple miscarriages on my end, I'm at a place now where I'm starting to think about possibly carrying again. I'm undergoing a lot of different tests to see if I even can. Right now, it's going through and uncovering what it is that we want because it has been such a long process and I don't want my happiness and everything that I have to be overshadowed by this." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Whitney Port for Perelel. Perelel Whitney Port Reveals Her Surrogate Experienced Two Back-to-Back Miscarriages: 'It's Weighing Me Down' Although it's emotional to share the journey, Port says she wanted to talk about it "because I think it's something that can be so isolating. "So many women go through it and each experience is so unique and a lot of women feel like they don't really have the space to to talk about it. So, for me, filming this and sharing this felt very liberating." To continue supporting all women on their paths to motherhood, Perelel is joining forces with Baby Quest, a national nonprofit providing IVF financial assistance, to sponsor one round of treatment for a family in need. "Obviously, fertility treatment can be very, very expensive and I think that Perelel partnering with Baby Quest to fund a treatment of IVF is amazing. I think it's important to share that it's an additional amazing thing that shows their commitment to continuing the conversation around women's health. Looking at the financial cost is a big aspect of what we have to do to have babies these days." Perelel has been an invaluable asset to Port throughout her journey. "For me, I try to only go to a few people because sometimes I get confused or feel disconnected from my gut, so I need to talk to experts and doctors, as well as Timmy, in order to get that support," Port shares. "When I started going through this, my sister connected me with Perelel. As I talked to them and talked to other women, I realized that there are more women who really do want to share and have this conversation. They want to share resources and education. It's just that people are afraid to have that first initial conversation. Port credits Perelel with connecting her with her doctor and surrogacy team. The company "has really been my support system in that regard." "It's really the only company of its kind that basically has clinically backed and targeted nutrition designed to meet the unique needs of a woman at various stages of their hormonal journey. I'm almost 40 now, and I've been through so many different hormonal shifts and phases, and there's so much that I realized that I don't know about my body. Thank God I've had Perelel by my side," she says. Port also gives tremendous credit to her husband for supporting her on this journey, noting he "has been my rock from day one and always has just put like my heart and my body first." Tim Rosenman and Whitney Port pose at 2016 event. Michael Kovac/Getty With her support system locked, Port has focused on "simplifying things" in the past year "to make sure my health and happiness were at the forefront." "I'm the roots, the foundation of this family. I think it took me a little bit of time to figure out what that looked like and I think for me, now, it's really about doing things I find purpose in and just being present in the moment, whether I'm at work or with Sonny or my husband," she says. "I'm really trying to live in my moments and not be so connected to my phone or social media. I've really just tried to be on my own timeline and do things at my own pace, and that's been really liberating for me as well." Port's life is full of happiness and light moments with Sonny, who's now in kindergarten. "He's just the sweetest and cutest. He's becoming so empathetic and tuned in. He's very sweet and thoughtful and I just love his face so much, I really do," the boy mom raves. "Of course, we have the annoying issues of wanting screen time and all that, but it's to be expected and we try to manage and handle it appropriately. He's the best, though. Seeing him at this age makes me want another so much more because this age is even more fun than the baby stage was. I've fallen in love with being a mom more and more as he's gotten older." The couple is honest with Sonny about trying to make him a big brother, with Port knowing he's "fully aware" of the situation. "We've tried to explain it to him in terms he understands. For us, just being factual and real and honest from day one is the best. I don't think anybody wants to feel in the dark about something happening in their family," she shares. "There are doctor's appointments and conversations happening and I don't want him to feel like he's in the dark. So we've talked to him about it and consistently said that we're trying and we're not sure what's going to happen. I think because we're open with him, he doesn't ask all the time about it." As for what's next, the hopeful mom admits, "I don't really know." "I talked about this a little on my podcast. I would have to have a procedure now to get my uterus corrected in order to carry again. So that's just like a new little wrench in the whole situation. Right now just in the discovery process, which is something I also urge people [to consider]." She continues, "A lot of people are like, 'What are you doing? Where are you at? What's your next step?' I feel this pressure to have a decision. I was talking to my therapist the other day and I was like, 'I feel like I'm procrastinating this but I'm so overwhelmed with all this information.'" "For a lot of people. there's this timeline, there's a biological clock that we're all under and so it's really hard to allow ourselves time to make decisions. She told me to try not to judge myself because, obviously, I'm not ready to make a decision. So I'm just sitting with this in the moment and trying not to judge or label, which I think is really valid. I do think that there is some grace we have to give ourselves when we can and if we're not ready, it's okay to just sit with it a little longer and continue to have conversations about it." Port shares her support with other women who are going through the "exhausting" experience of trying to conceive, noting "it can feel like a part-time job." "It's the whole thing, not just the logistical work and the conversations, but all the emotions and the shame as well. It's so important from day one to be your biggest advocate and not feel to small to be taking up time with questions and make sure you're comfortable," she shares. "It's so complicated and for me, I'm lucky to have a partner obviously, I don't know how I could have done this without him. It makes me think how unbelievable people are who do it on their own. It's a lot. We have to release a lot of control and that comes with having a lot of radical acceptance and you kind of have to work on that going into it."