Ali Riley: 'The IVF process has been a lot'

Ali Riley is getting for real about her personal journey with in vitro fertilization, or IVF. On the most recent episode of BFFR with Sydney Leroux and Ali Riley, the Angel City FC defender shared that she and her husband, Lucas Nilsson, were able to secure multiple embryos after their second round of treatment. But the journey to this moment was not easy.

“I knew that that was really hard on you, for sure,” her cohost and friend Sydney Leroux shared. “It’s like a lot on your body.” Leroux is a mom to two children, her son Cassius and her daughter Roux. The Angel City forward shared that she decided to freeze her eggs a few years ago as well.

“I didn’t know enough about women’s health and our fertility and the statistics,” Riley explained. “And, of course, everyone is completely different but there are certain statistics that when you reach a certain age that I have now passed how hard it can really be.”

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, up until their mid-30s, 1 in 4 women will get pregnant in any single menstrual cycle. By age 40, that statistics becomes 1 in 10.

“One of the reasons why I want to share my journey is to connect with other people and be a source of support and a resource,” Riley went on to say. “But also I just want the younger players to know what I didn’t know. And just to be prepared, just so it is a choice, and not get to either the end of their career or an age whatever it is but just a stage where it is a lot harder.”

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