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Earlier this week, actress Trina McGee announced that she’s pregnant at 54 years old. Tracy has three adult children, Ramia, 31, Langston, 29, and Ezra, 25. Her Instagram announcement was worded, “At the tender age of 54, I have found myself pregnant.” I, and I think many others, read it with an inflection that made it sound like it was a surprise pregnancy. Turns out, Trina and her husband of 16 years, Marcello Thedford, have been trying to conceive a child together for quite some time, but to no avail. After considering but ultimately deciding against doing IVF, Trina and Marcus decided to try a “more holistic and organic approach” towards conceiving. Despite Trina already starting menopause, they headed to Belize, where she tried “natural remedies” – medicinal herbs recommended by shamans – that she feels helped her get pregnant naturally.
She feels happy and blessed: ”Just sheer joy, sheer joy, and I don’t partake in any of the negativity anybody has to say about it. I am so happy. I have been blessed, and that’s it,” the actress — best known for playing Angela Moore on the ABC sitcom — told ET. “And all I’m concerned about — I only have one job now – is to have this baby, and that’s what I’m about.
They’ve “long hoped” for a child: The actress says that she and Thedford had long hoped to welcome a child of their own — he is also dad to a son, Elijah, from another relationship — but that things had never worked for them until they took a more holistic and organic approach to the fertility process, she shares, even as she claims she was a year into menopause.
What led them to seek help in Belize: “I have been saying I wanted to have a baby with my current husband of 16 years for quite a while,” she said, adding that they even “tried” at one point to conceive without any kind of intervention to no avail. They also considered IVF but she shared that she was hesitant to go through that. Ultimately, they decided to seek out help in Belize where Thedford has a “cultural background.”
Shamans gave her medicinal herbs: There, they worked with the Garifuna people on natural remedies which she says have assisted her greatly in reversing menopause and helping them to conceive a child together. McGee admits that she is not a doctor by any means but that for her, the advice of “shamans” in Belize to take medicinal herbs — partnered with her already incredibly healthy lifestyle — helped her and her husband to achieve their long-time goal to become parents together.
A “low-stress” environment also played a part: She also credits a low-stress environment for helping to reverse menopausal signs and to assist in their efforts to grow their family. “The number one thing for me is to not partake in any stress and stay away from negativity as much as I can, and that pertains to what I put on TV, what I — what I look at on my phone, you know, there’s so much drama and violence and negativity out there as soon as you turn on the screen,” McGee said. “I really want to be pointed when I turn on the screen — what I’m watching. Because stress, for me, is the biggest factor.”
On taking a social media break: Part of that includes a step away from social media as she continues throughout the pregnancy. During her announcement, she shared that while they are very excited by the baby news, she would be taking a break from Instagram to focus on what matters — her family.
I’m happy for Trina and Marcelo for getting to fulfill their wish to have a child together. This must be a very long-awaited dream come true. Congrats to them. While I cannot imagine having a newborn at 54 – I’m 40 and exhausted, and my kids are six and 10, lol – if they’re up for it, then power to them. I’m sure they also have the resources to help support them during their journey and new parenthood, which probably makes it easier. Trina also mentions in the interview that she told her former Boy Meets World coworkers before she made her public announcement and they were all very happy for her.
As for her claims about medicinal herbs helping her get pregnant, I have no idea how much the natural remedies helped her. The most herbal thing I’ve ever taken was echinacea (although my mom keeps telling me to tell to try ashwagandha; she swears it helps with her anxiety). If they tried for years without any luck and coincidentally finally got pregnant after the trip, then who am I to get all skeptical about it? Women try a lot of different things when they’re trying to get pregnant, both scientific and anecdotal. I remember being told to take cough medicine when I was trying to get pregnant with my first because it supposedly helps if you produce mucus or something. When it comes to the recommendations, who knows what works and doesn’t. Congrats to Trina and Marcelo. May Trina have a smooth pregnancy and easy birth.
Well if she is happy then good. Those must be some powerful herbs that she got in Belize.
I’m glad to know that it was on purpose. Good for them!
Definitely try ashwagunda!
Her body her choice, but no one should have to make the same choice. The idea of making this choice for myself makes my eye twitch and heart go out of rhythm.
As a mom, you are always a mom. The role doesn’t change as you age or they age BUT as my children are becoming more self sufficient and I can say DAMN in a sentence, I have no desire to start over. To each their own, what ever makes her happy and I wish her and the baby a healthy and safe pregnancy. And yes, my eye twitches too at the thought of it at my age.
First, congrats to her – I know very well the struggle to get pregnant. I had a high fever for two years as a late teen and essentially slow-cooked my eggs so it was 7+years to get my son in my 30’s, who by every measure is a miracle (with medical help). Reversing menopause is not a thing – you can still get pregnant while in the course of menopause, and you can ease symptoms with a healthy lifestyle, but you can’t reverse it (I wish you could). It is possible to get pregnant at 54, but it’s insanely low odds. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have and lose 1,000+ every cycle – it’s not an endless reserve. I truly wish her a healthy pregnancy and the fullest joy.
This is a genuine question–how do you have a fever for two years? That sounds awful
Really bad case of Mono (no, I wasn’t kissing anyone) – I didn’t tell anyone because I was young and dumb and didn’t want to stop playing basketball, working multiple jobs, and going to school so I just…didn’t say anything. I literally fell asleep in the middle of a basketball game (in a crowded gym with everyone yelling) when I sat on the bench for a moment because my body was so exhausted and worn down. I was also working 2 jobs until late at night to help pay household bills (I came from a family in constant financial crisis and little money)…I slept very little and didn’t think we had the money to address it so…I didn’t. I finally lost so much weight (and I wasn’t big at the time anyway) that my body shut down and I was in a slumbering stupor for weeks on end until my body started to heal. Just dumb on my part, but I was a kid, and didn’t know about Epstein-Barr. Years later, a ton of testing showed that I had soft-boiled my eggs essentially. Somehow, one little egg survived.
I hope for a healthy pregnancy and delivery and healthy baby. I’m happy for Trina and her husband since is what they wanted for their family. Two people that have made the choice and who are ready to love and care for another human is where it’s at. Body autonomy and choice…I love that for her.
God bless and congratulations to her! I remember being in my early fifties and there is no way I could have had the energy and oompf to go through a pregnancy…and then raise a child for 20 years. I would be right now dealing with a 12-year-old! Then a teenager in my mid to late 60s! Oh, girl, you are a better woman than me! That being said, she probably is stronger and healthier than I was at her age. And I’m sure she will have help. So Trina enjoy your amazing miracle and your upcoming long wanted baby!
I am naturally predisposed to questioning everything, so – are we supposed to suspend disbelief of her miracle natural remedies from Belize?- pretty sure by now every Influencer in the world would be screaming from the roof tops this is how to do it for a “price” as well as every pharma co. Happy she’s getting her wish to come true but call me a sceptic about the how it came to fruition.
ALL OF THIS. This article is a greatest hits list of all the worst parts of infertility. Natural remedies! Medicinal herbs! Travel abroad! Avoid negativity! Just relaaaaaaax!
Look, perhaps she’s an absolute medical miracle. Perhaps she overcame unbelievable odds to become pregnant without modern medicine at 54 WHILE IN perimenopause. But everything she wrote is what gives couples futile hope, wastes money, and breaks a lot of hearts. I get it, good for her, but as a former member of the infertility community, I hate it all.
It’s a bit of a stretch to say eggs and sperm go “sour” after 35. Yeah, sure, egg quality and reserve might start to decline but there’s no firm age when you suddenly have useless, dusty eggs and sperm.
I’ll come right out and say I don’t believe it. My guess? Donated everything.
See, I hate it even more if she got things donated and lied about it.
It’s 2024! Embryo/egg/sperm donation is super common. Gestational carriers, again, common. Cameron Diaz had a baby this year at age 51, and she most certainly used a lot of medical intervention and did not carry that pregnancy herself. Celebs also have whole babies without anyone knowing for months.
If this D-list celeb truly just wants to be a mom again, congrats to her. But sitting down for a fame-hungry interview to (potentially) spread misinformation sucks.
I had a baby at 45 because we had medical intervention. Even IVF is much harder after 40, unless you use a donated egg. If she is lying, it really bothers me because it gives false hope to others. Before fertility treatment was a thing, the oldest woman ever to give birth was 59.
Yeah, no. Sue me but I don’t think we should be applauding this, because I only see selfishness here. She’ll be in her seventies when this child graduates high school, that’s insane! I say that as someone whose otherwise perfectly healthy parents died in their sixties (because when you age, shit happens!), so yeah I’m judging here. I’m all for female bodily autonomy, but sometimes seeking therapy to accept the fact that you can’t have anymore children can be the best course of action.
Also, biologically, their ages are not the best; both eggs and sperm go sour after 35. Is a fact that comes from IV studies. They are giving this child the least biologically nurturing environment and probably won’t be there to see the results
The amount of eggs you produce and the quality of eggs you produce my decrease as you age making it MORE difficult to get pregnant , but saying “eggs” go sour is nonsense. Just because someone in the 40s needed medical treatment to get pregnant doesn’t mean everyone will. I am 40 and was thinking about freezing my eggs. Test showed I was producing twice as many eggs as someone my age and was fertile. Maybe the person just has issues conceiving. As long as you are not in menopause, you can get pregnant barring medical issues. It just may be harder as you age. That is scientific fact. You eggs don’t suddenly “sour” as some as you hit 35.
They don’t “go sour,” what in the world. Please do not get your medical info from random anonymous people online.
I’ll sit right next to you then, because I feel the same way. It’s very selfish and not thinking at all about the child at ALL. Mom being 74 when child is 20? This is a case of just because you can doesn’t mean you should. It’s one thing for it to happen by accident, but to do it on purpose?
Agreed, Pampam.
First off, by age 54, she almost certainly has run out of her own eggs. Fact. I don’t care if she started her period at 16, which is very very unlikely. Women have on average about 40 years’ worth of eggs. Up next: Menopause. Second: women are indeed born with all the eggs they will ever have and they sit in STASIS at the first stage of cell division when cross over occurs (stop reading if this bores you) until they are ovulated. The longer they sit in stasis, the longer they have for chromatids to cross over and introduce mutations, so by the age of 45 the likelihood of ovulating an egg with abnormalities is 60%. So they actually do go “sour”. The medical term for that is suboptimal. Sounds better but means the same thing. And that’s why there are so many more miscarriages as women get older, b/c the pregnancies are unhealthy and Mother Nature intervenes. Third: there is no natural “remedy” for reversing menopause. Total BS. She had an egg donor. Fourth: Women CAN rarely get pregnant over 50, but the chances that pregnancy is viable are less than 20%, and the chances the baby will be completely normal IF it’s born are also low. I usually don’t comment on here, but there’s a lot of misinformation being posted. Fifth: I do this for a living. And no, Im not the IVF doctor, I’m the doctor they see when there is something wrong with the pregnancy.
I wish she’d tell us which herbs specifically so that I can be sure to avoid them. I respect her choice and I hope for a good outcome for everyone involved. A post-menopausal pregnancy without any external hormonal assistance is very high-risk. She needs to stay out of red states entirely for the duration of her pregnancy.
Your comment about the herbs made me LOL and yes, I agree about the red states and announcing her pregnancy when it’s a geriatric pregnancy–although I didn’t see if/where it said how far along she is. But she IS high risk due to her age so hopefully she’s not in one of the oppressive red states, and can make her own decisions about her pregnancy,
Oof, good for her but that sounds like a fate worse than death. The only thing I want to be raising in my 50’s and 60’s is a cocktail glass to my lips on a beach somewhere with a gorgeous, muscled Jason Momoa lookalike wafting me with palm fronds. A guy can dream, right??
SAME! I would sue my doctor on principle if anything took hold there.
I was in my twenties when I got pregnant for the first time, that pregnancy/baby took all the energy from me for at least 6 months, so much I thought I was dying. So kuddos to her, their decision to bring life at her tender age. Health to all and delivery of a strong healthy baby is what I wish for them! And an easy pregnancy!
I’m pregnant at 42. Wish I had known about these magical herbs before I shelled out thousands on Puregon injections, DHEA pills, etc. lol Honestly, I wish she had just stopped after saying that it was natural.
I’m a bit disappointed in all the people saying that it’s selfish to have a baby so late in life. I’d rather a parent that will give a good home to a child for 20 years before passing away, that a parent that will give the kid an unstable home environment and then have that kid go no contact once they reach 18.
I conceived naturally at 42, gave birth at 43, was not more exhausted than any of the younger moms in my parenting group (mostly early-mid 30s), wasn’t the oldest mom in the PTA (and lots of dads were 10-20 years older), did 45 minutes of Pilates this morning then ran 3 miles home. My kid turns 22 this year. We are tight.
You’ve got this, Mina_Esq. Sending you all the luck.
PS I do not for a second believe Trina got pregnant all of a sudden at 54 because…herbs conveniently found in a gorgeous tourist locale with perfect beaches.
Awww thank you so much! Let’s hope I follow that path! My friend is a therapist that works only with women that go through fertility treatments, and she told me that her average patient is 47! It’s a lot more common now, and I’m so grateful for that.
Congratulations, @Mina_Esq!!! Wishing you all the best!
Marigold, I’m with you. She looks fabulous, beautiful, etc., but no way in hell does someone get pregnant at 54 with herbs. At that point, she’d need IVF with donor eggs. All the best to her, of course, but it’s not only the Royal Family who make stuff up.
I mean, Shamen and herbal medicine practitioners have been using these methods for centuries. I’m sure it’s a lot involved, emotional and mental as well, but I’ll let it ride. She’s happy, her family is happy. This is something they planned and, with their means, found a natural way to procure it. There isn’t anything wrong with that. Concerning the discussion about eggs being “sour”. I say I don’t know her, her body, or her eggs like that, so I won’t comment on that. I won’t make assumptions, and it’s frustrating seeing verbal salt being thrown at a woman making choices for herself and her body on a site that claims “Feminist/Feminism” ideas. Supporting women doesn’t happen only when they make the same exact reproductive choices you make or belief system you have or medical choices you agree with.