Samantha Gash: Survivor star opens up about her IVF battle at 40

Former Survivor Australia star Samantha Gash has detailed her struggles with IVF at 40 for the first time - and what has helped her through difficult times.

Former Survivor Australia star, athlete and motivational speaker Samantha Gash has detailed her struggles with IVF for the first time.

Gash, who shares a son with her former partner and fellow Survivor star Mark Wales, said she wanted to share her difficult journey to having a second child to encourage others to be brave and know they’re not alone.

“When you have stable foundations, you can weather the storms,’’ Gash began her post to social media.

“I haven’t always had that, and because l’ve lived without it, I know what it feels like to stand on shaky ground.”

The 40-year-old said she was sharing her IVF journey for the first time.

“Five rounds. Two miscarriages. A body that often feels unfamiliar,” she wrote.

She also then referenced going through peri-menopause.

“Hormonal shifts that shake my moods, my sleep, my sense of self. (I’m clearly getting a solid taste of peri).”

Samantha Gash and her son Harry. Picture: Instagram

Gash said movement had been her safe space but she had doubts about what’s helpful or might be too much when battling with fertility.

“And the clearblue tests? Honestly, I should’ve bought shares,” she wrote.

“I’ve used so many trying to find certainty in a space where nothing feels predictable. And here I thought as an adventure I was okay in the unknown?!!!

“As an athlete, my body has always been the one thing I could trust. Even when life felt messy, I could rely on what I felt in my body. That clarity: that compass, feels quieter now.

“IVF / this fertility adventure has made me question everything.

“Do I train or rest? Did that coffee matter? Was that moment of stress too much?

“There’s no rule book: just trial & error, & the fear that one wrong move might undo it all.”

Gash said at 40 she’d never felt “more irrelevant or ancient”.

“It’s hard not to feel the sadness of having stayed too long in something that was quietly harming me: not just emotionally, but possibly physically too.

“Time slipped away. And maybe more than time.

Samantha Gash has opened up about the toll of IVF. Picture: Instagram

“I was very apprehensive to share something so private & without any answers. Not that a neat tidy bow is important — but I guess I had lots of narratives through my head: real & invisible. What I didn’t expect after sharing was the response. The kindness. The stories. The quiet, vulnerable messages from people walking similar paths.

“It reminded me that this experience, as personal as it is, it doesn’t have to be walked alone. So I wanted to honour that. By being a bit braver.

“And to also be so grateful for all that I have, which is the best people (family & friends) – who love & value all parts of me (geriatric ovaries and all).”

Originally published as Samantha Gash: Survivor star opens up about her IVF battle at 40