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Katie Thurston called out those “judging” celebrities pursuing surrogacy — because she likely will turn to that alternative to start a family, too, given her cancer diagnosis.
The “Bachelorette” alum was asked in a Q&A via her Instagram Stories Friday if doctors had informed her whether she would “have to” go the surrogacy route to expand her family with husband Jeff Arcuri.
“I never like the word ‘have to’ with anything medical-related, kind of like ‘never say never,’” Thurston, 34, answered.
“However, yes, Jeff and I discussed the importance of my health and that, when the time comes, surrogacy will likely be the best option for us.”
The reality TV star added, “[This is] a friendly reminder to stop judging celebrities who pursue surrogacy. You don’t know what they have going on in their personal lives.”
Thurston also revealed in her Q&A session that she has chosen to freeze embryos with Arcuri before she begins her cancer treatment next month.
“I’m basically putting my ovaries into a temporary menopausal state (I like to say hibernation) to protect them from chemo,” she shared.
“It will also reduce estrogen production, which is particularly important in hormonereceptor-ER+/PR+ breast cancer as estrogen can fuel cancer growth.”
Thurston shared her stage three breast cancer diagnosis in mid-February.
The former “Bachelor” contestant shared that she “experienced a range of emotions” following the news.
“Despair. Anger. Sadness. Denial. And then strength. Purposeful. Ready. I cried a lot. I tried to even make a video instead of this post and couldn’t,” she said at the time.
On Friday, the “Bachelorette” alum revealed her breast cancer has progressed to stage four and doctors discovered that the disease has spread to her liver.
“I know stage four can sound very scary, and it can be,” she admitted.
Still, Thurston said she is “very optimistic” about her future since she is “triple positive” and the cancerous spots that doctors found on her liver are “fairly small and detected early.”
Thurston married Arcuri earlier this month in an intimate ceremony with just their parents present.
The wedding was held in their New York City backyard, just before the reality TV star was scheduled to start treatment for her breast cancer.
“There’s a lot of emotions that come in with chemo and the impact and the health, and we don’t know what the next year looks like,” Thurston told Us Weekly at the time.
She added of her spouse, “It was this kind gesture of him saying, truly, in sickness and in health.
“He is proving that he’s here to stay. He shows up every day and he does it in ways that just continue to surprise.”
