Emmy Rossum shares one of the most personal chapters of her life: becoming a mother.
Appearing on the July 8 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the “Shameless” actress opened up about the years-long fertility journey that eventually led to the birth of her two children. Along the way, she experienced failed fertility treatments, postpartum anxiety, and one IVF result she says completely caught her off guard.
GettyEmmy revealed she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), formerly known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), and spent years trying to become pregnant.
“I had very debilitating ovarian cysts throughout my 20s, and tried to get pregnant naturally. It didn’t happen. Tried IUI, didn’t happen, and then tried IVF, and it happened in a big way,” she said.
Emmy Was Shocked by Her IVF Results
While Emmy only underwent one egg retrieval cycle, the outcome surprised even her medical team.
She explained that PCOS can sometimes cause patients to become “super responders” during IVF treatment. “I only did one harvest,” she said. “They woke me up from the harvest and said that I had 72 eggs, which was trippy and bizarre.”
For Emmy, finally becoming pregnant felt especially emotional after years of uncertainty. “It had been a long journey to get to meet my daughter,” she said. Emmy and her husband, filmmaker Sam Esmail, welcomed their daughter in May 2021 before expanding their family with the birth of their son in April 2023.
Emmy Also Experienced Intense Postpartum Anxiety
Motherhood brought another unexpected challenge. Emmy shared that she struggled with severe postpartum anxiety after welcoming her first child. “Postpartum anxiety for me was very, very rough,” she said. “Very intense, intrusive thoughts.”
She described feeling overwhelmed by the vulnerability of becoming a parent after finally holding her daughter for the first time. “Oh my God, that’s a person,” she remembered thinking. “I was overtaken by the feeling of vulnerability that this thing that we’ve been able to keep safe inside of you for so long is now outside of you.”
She Almost Didn’t Make It to the Hospital
Emmy also admitted she didn’t realize she was in labor at first. Instead of rushing to the hospital, she spent the day cleaning her house, giving Sam a haircut, ordering Thai food, and watching a New York Knicks game while experiencing contractions.
“I was not going to go into labor until after the Knicks game,” she joked. She labored at home overnight because her contractions never became much closer than eight minutes apart. By the time she finally called an Uber to the hospital the next morning, she was much farther along than she realized.
Emmy and Sam Have Been Together for More Than a Decade
Emmy has been married to “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail since 2017. The couple has largely kept their family life private, announcing the births of both of their children after they were born while sharing only occasional glimpses of their life as parents.
