April 26, 2023
Award-Winning Fertility Advocate Kellee Stewart Talks Launching ‘Parenthood Journey’ Evite Invitations, Redefining Her Motherhood Path
When actress and award-winning fertility advocate Kellee Stewart froze her eggs, she was alone, unheard, and unseen. Years later, this mothering and nurturing creator has fulfilled a purpose beyond her deepest desires: to normalize the celebration of all journeys to parenthood.
Stewart is removing the “suffering in silence” stigma that millions of people experience while coping with infertility. She brings her knowledge and resilient story to many platforms, including OWN’s Eggs Over Easy Film, FOX’s The Sherri Show, and her empowering YouTube community, Warrior Wednesdays. With her ‘Egg Showers’ on the rise, Stewart recently partnered with Laurel Fertility Care to throw a public Egg Shower in which two contestants won free egg-freezing cycles gifted by the clinic.
Now the Resident star is breaking ground with a change-making partnership with Evite, a social-planning website for creating, sending, and managing online invitations. It began with a call to action in response to the lack of invitations for people who embark on parenthood journeys such as IVF, egg freezing, or adoption. Evite answered the call right away.
“We’re starting a new trend. Starting a new movement. Starting a new tradition, and saying our journey deserves a shower too,” Stewart told BLACK ENTERPRISE.
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Serving a greater purpose
Ahead of National Infertility Awareness Week, Stewart and BLACK ENTERPRISE discussed just how exciting it is to “create a whole new category” of “Parenthood Journey” invitations honoring those facing challenges on the way to parenthood. This collaboration will expand on the traditional baby showers to include IVF Showers, Adoption Showers, Rainbow Baby Showers, and Stewart’s “Egg Shower.”
“When you ask yourself how I can support my friend, our goal was to help give you a solution to that. To help normalize the conversation so it’s not so taboo. I do want to mention that one of the things that was important to us was to not put this in the baby shower category,” Said Stewart who previously threw herself an egg shower.
She added: “The traditional baby shower in the US was born in the 1950s from the baby boom era after the war. To shower the expectant mother with gifts and encouragement. For seventy-plus years we have not changed that tradition or even expanded upon it, even though millions of people are challenged by infertility.”
“It’s time to normalize this space. So that people feel seen, they feel heard, they feel valued. They know that their journey deserves a shower, too, because the harsh reality is some people may never get to the baby shower. So, their journey will never see that celebration or that encouragement. Sometimes it’s the journey that deserves the celebration, not the destination.”
Living in endless motherhood
Additionally, Stewart shared a heartwarming testimony about the journey that heavily aligns with her purposeful intentions.
At the start of her egg-freezing journey, then 37-year-old Stewart focused on learning about her fertility health immediately after severing ties from a seven-year relationship. She knew so little, but that didn’t stop her from asking the “embarrassing questions.”
“Being able to say I took control of my fertility future has been the best gift I gave myself and my future family. You know life is unpredictable. This is one of the things that we can do, predict an option that we may need later,” Stewart proclaimed.
For Stewart, being proactive in fertility health is imperative. It means getting those very simple blood tests so you have an understanding of what your timeline may be.
“Though I still would like to wait for the right partner and the right time in the career, we don’t know when or if those times will come. Freezing my eggs has been something I personally will never regret because at least that insurance is there,” she said.
“What I’ve learned from this experience is that eggs are already serving a purpose that I never froze them for. When people ask me: ‘When are you going to use your frozen eggs, and when are you going to defrost your frozen eggs?’ I said, ‘Honey, they are already being used. They are already serving a greater good, that I couldn’t have written this story even if I tried. They’re doing what it’s supposed to do,’” Stewart said.
While empowering the community, Stewart honors her journey by redefining her motherhood.
“When there is a weight in the wait, I advise us all to find purpose. Because that makes the weight lighter. Guiding this purpose and becoming an award-winning fertility advocator made the weight of this waiting season lighter for me,” Stewart said.
“You know at least when and if I have a child, they will be able to see just how much I wanted them. They will be able to read Black Enterprise. ‘Before me and mommy met, she was talking to other black people about creating me. She was opening up her desire to want me. She was helping other people get their version of me.’ I am delayed. I’m not denied.”
Read more about Kellee Stewart’s story here.