‘A unique kind of grief’: Samantha Armytage reveals secret battle with infertility
Samantha Armytage has opened up about her “deeply personal” experience with IVF and infertility for the first time.
The TV host, 50, shared that she and her ex-husband “secretly, quietly and privately gave IVF a real heartfelt go” in an episode of her interview series, Act Two with Samantha Armytage.
Armytage said she was choosing to tell “a deeply personal story” she had never told before. YouTube/@ActTwoProductions
“It was a long road filled with much emotional and physical pain, many miscarriages, heartbreak and profound hope,” Armytage said.
“Ultimately, it did not end with the baby we were trying for.”
While she was now on “a different, beautiful path” as an aunt to her nieces, nephews and friends’ children, she said there was “a unique kind of grief in letting go of that specific future”.
“This may explain why I always refer to my darling Labrador Banjo as really being my baby, and why I felt his loss so deeply,” she said of her beloved dog that died in 2024.
It was the first time Armytage had opened up about this, telling viewers that even some of her closest friends and family did not know the story fully.
She was sharing this now because she was ready, with a “full, busy and happy” life.
“Because I know how incredibly lonely the fertility rollercoaster can feel, and I want any woman sitting in a waiting room today to know that you are not alone, and there is a fulfilling, happy life on the other side of no.”
In conversation with former president of Family Planning NSW Dr Devora Lieberman, Armytage said she “thought she had done all the right things”, including freezing her eggs in her 30s.
Now, at 50, she said she was “completely at peace” with her experience.
Richard Lavender and Samantha Armytage, pictured in 2021, were married for four years. Getty
Armytage also clarified this was not the reason for the end of her marriage.
She and ex-husband Richard Lavender tied the knot at his property in NSW’s Southern Highlands on New Year’s Eve in 2020.
They separated in 2024 after four years of marriage.
The Red Nose Grief and Loss Support Line is available 24/7 for anyone affected by the loss of a pregnancy, stillbirth or death of a baby or child on 1300 308 307.
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