Brit Selwood opens up about emotional IVF journey following birth of son

The new mum and wife of former Geelong captain Joel Selwood has shed light on her rollercoaster pregnancy journey, which included 11 rounds of IVF.

Brit Selwood has opened up on her IVF journey following the birth of baby Joey.

New mum Brit Selwood has opened up about her difficult pregnancy journey seven months on from the birth of her first child Joey Victor Selwood.

In a rare glimpse into her personal life, the wife of former Geelong captain Joel Selwood, detailed the emotional and physical toll 18 months of IVF had on the couple.

The special needs teacher said while she doesn’t “love speaking” about herself, she decided she would share the truth about her pregnancy when her friend and WAG Demi Duncan invited her on her podcast Missta Mums.

After learning they couldn’t conceive naturally, the couple started their rollercoaster pregnancy journey, which included 11 cycles of IVF, and many days of both optimism and heartbreak.

“I had so many complications, I had a few procedures that we didn’t think I was going to need and a few things went wrong but it was my third cycle (that I had my) first embryo transfer,” she told Duncan and co-host Melinda Baxter.

Brit Selwood has opened up about her and husband Joel Selwood’s difficult pregnancy journey. Picture: Jason Edwards

“So it was the first time an embryo had been implanted and it worked. I was like, ‘wow, that’s easy’. Like it was the first embryo transfer and we were pregnant.”

Shortly after, Brit received the devastating news she had miscarried, however didn’t let that moment stop her from trying the treatment again.

“It might have been eight months into IVF and we had three pregnancies so it’s like, ‘oh my god, how did this happen?’,” she said.

“We had so much positivity and we had so much good news like it was everything was always going to work.”

However, Brit revealed she started to spiral when her husband went interstate for the 2021 AFL finals series, as she was scheduled to find out her results while he was away.

“We made that choice going into it that I would have the transfer while Joel was away because we’ve wasted so much time, I was mentally pretty OK to deal with it,” she said.

“But once it happened it was the realisation of ‘oh my god, we’re going to find out our third result while Joel was away’, and just yeah, that was when I started to decline.”

An emotional Brit went on to explain how the three months following October 2021 was a difficult time for the couple, especially as they entered the festive season.

“I remember being a shell of the person I was. I remember Christmas-time I didn’t want to celebrate Christmas … just not wanting to celebrate (New Years’),” she said.

“It was just Joel and I, we were our rocks and we just kind of pulled back from a lot of our friends because it hurt so much to be around other people.”

The Selwoods with baby Joey at the first round of the 2023 AFL season. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Despite the emotional toll, Brit continued with the IVF treatment until she and Joel officially announced they were pregnant with a baby boy in September last year, posting the special news on social media.

Then in February, their “miracle” bundle of joy, Joey, was born, with the couple also announcing his birth on social media while paying tribute to all the couples going through the difficult journey they had experienced.

“To couples, who are trying, have tried or can’t have a baby for some unfair reason, we see you and are sending love and positive energy your way,” Joel wrote at the time.

“We can’t wait to meet you Baby Selwood, you will be very loved.”

Britt and Joel got engaged in 2018, with baby Joey arriving three years after his parents got married in January 2020.