Emma Roberts was "terrified" at the thought of freezing her eggs.
Emma Roberts covers Cosmopolitan
The 'American Horror Story' star - who is expecting her first child, a son, with boyfriend Garrett Hedlund - was warned she'd find it difficult to conceive when she was diagnosed with endometriosis but she was initially reluctant to take measures to preserve her fertility because she was scared of what might happen.
She told the new issue of America's Cosmopolitan magazine: "A few years ago, I learned that I’ve had undiagnosed endometriosis since I was a teenager.
"I always had debilitating cramps and periods, so bad that I would miss school and, later, have to cancel meetings. I mentioned this to my doctor, who didn’t look into it and sent me on my way because maybe I was being dramatic?
"In my late 20s, I just had a feeling I needed to switch to a female doctor. It was the best decision.
"She ran tests, sent me to a specialist. Finally, there was validation that I wasn’t being dramatic. But by then, it had affected my fertility. I was told, ‘You should probably freeze your eggs or look into other options
“I said, ‘I’m working right now. I don’t have time to freeze my eggs.’ To be honest, I was also terrified. Just the thought of going through that and finding out, perhaps, that I wouldn’t be able to have kids….I did freeze my eggs eventually, which was a difficult process.”
The 29-year-old star was "stunned" when she was initially given the news and she was thankful when she spoke out about her medical issues because the outpouring of support she received stopped her from feeling guilty.
She said: "When I found out about my fertility, I was kind of stunned. It felt so permanent, and oddly, I felt like I had done something wrong.
"But I started opening up to other women, and all of a sudden, there was a new world of conversation about endometriosis, infertility, miscarriages, fear of having kids. I was so grateful to find out I was not alone in this. I hadn’t done anything ‘wrong’ after all.”
And Emma tried not to get too excited when she fell pregnant because she was mindful things could "go wrong".
She said: “It sounds cheesy, but the moment that I stopped thinking about it, we got pregnant. But even then, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Things can go wrong when you’re pregnant. That’s something you don’t see on Instagram.
"So I kept it to myself, my family, and my partner, not wanting to make grand plans if it wasn’t going to work out.
"This pregnancy made me realise that the only plan you can have is that there is no plan.”
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