Although she would “love” to expand her family with Slade Smiley, Gretchen Rossi has concerns about welcoming a second child.
The Real Housewives of Orange County mom addressed the topic during a recent appearance on Scheana Shay’s Scheananigans podcast. Gretchen — who shares a 5-year-old daughter with her fiancé, Slade — said her first pregnancy was enjoyable, but the postpartum period took a heavy toll on her mental health.
Gretchen reflects on her postpartum experience: “I’m not gonna lie…”
“I had her really late, though,” she said about her firstborn, Skylar Gray. “I had her at 41. It was hard. I’m not gonna lie… We were older parents, so that was rough.”
Scheana then asked Gretchen if she and Slade had any plans for baby No. 2, and suggested surrogacy as an option.
“We have one on ice still,” Gretchen said, referring to her frozen eggs. “I would love to have another baby, but honestly, I had the worst postpartum depression ever. It was really, really hard on me. It was almost three years long. It wasn’t until I got on the hormone replacement therapy that I finally felt like myself again. But I would love to [have another child], but I would probably consider a surrogate.”
She continued: “I can carry and I really love being pregnant, but the afterwards was so difficult that I didn’t feel like I could be the best version of myself for my child. I just don’t want to go through that again.”
Gretchen says she’ll feel “OK” if she doesn’t have another child
Like many parents of an only child, Gretchen is well aware of the purported downsides of growing up without a sibling; however, she recalled multiple conversations that eased those concerns.
“I talk to a lot of only-children, and they say, oh, they love it,” Gretchen said. “And then I’m, like, ‘Oh, OK. So if it doesn’t happen for us, I at least feel OK about it.’”
Gretchen explains why she and Slade Smiley haven’t married
Gretchen and Slade welcomed their daughter about six years after getting engaged. Naturally, many people have wondered when — if ever — the couple will ultimately tie the knot. Gretchen insisted she hadn’t closed the door on marriage, but the timing has never been right.
“Life just got so busy,” she said. “And then I started trying to have a baby. And that was so much money, just doing the whole IVF and all of that for four and a half years. And then after we had the baby, we were just busy being parents. And, you know, I’m not the kind of girl that’s like, ‘Let’s go down to the courthouse and get married.’ I want the wedding… I want to have more of the big hoopla.”
Click here to get an inside look at Gretchen’s family life before her big RHOC return.