In an essay for PEOPLE, Katie Lee says she was "touched by the compassion and love" she got from "friends and strangers" after discussing infertility
Katie Lee isn’t giving up on her dream to have a family.
The 37-year-old Food Network star revealed in an emotional Instagram last month that she and her husband Ryan Biegel have had difficulties conceiving since their September 2018 wedding.
Now Lee is opening up about her infertility struggles in an essay for this week’s issue of PEOPLE, explaining that despite the challenges, she is optimistic about the future.
“I know a family will happen for us; it’s just not going to be as easy as we thought,” Lee writes. “We will keep working toward it. Someday we will have our happy new beginning.”
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Lee, who says she has read similar infertility stories from many women online, goes on to offer comfort to other couples experiencing the same struggles, sending her prayers for their own happy endings.
“I pray any of you out there experiencing the same will have yours too,” adds Lee, who has had surgery and undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) in attempts to get pregnant.
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Lee’s Instagram post came after she was moved by her pastor’s sermon on Easter Sunday, as he touched on the beauty of “new beginnings” while telling a story of a couple trying to grow their family.
“I get multiple messages a day asking me if I’m pregnant or why I am not pregnant yet,” Lee wrote on Instagram. “After one said that I looked ‘thick in the waist’ I finally responded that it’s not ok to comment on a woman’s body and you never know what someone is going through.”
The cookbook author’s candid post touched several celebrities, including Daphne Oz, Hilaria Baldwin and Nate Berkus, all of whom offered their support.
“Love you. Strong, smart women, unafraid to be vulnerable, should be running the world,” Berkus wrote.
To read Katie Lee’s essay, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.