Strictly Come Dancing stars Ola and James Jordan have opened up about their emotional journey to parenthood. The couple welcomed their daughter Ella through IVF in 2019 after years of struggling to conceive. Ola and Jordan got married in 2003 and said they initially spent years focusing on their careers. Ola said: "We had been together for a long time and tried for 18 years not to be pregnant because you’re on the show, have this career and life.
"One day we said 'let’s just take it easy and see what happens. We’re not not trying to get pregnant anymore but let’s not put pressure on it'. Years went pass and nothing happened." Ola and Jordan said they tried naturally for three years before their GP recommended IVF. Fortunately, their first attempt was successful, and they welcomed Ella. Discussing their fantastic daughter, Ola gushed: "We had our wonderful Ella, she is wonderful and very clever. I don’t know where she gets it from, neither of us. Very funny, very cheeky, she is just amazing".
Speaking on Vanessa Feltz’s new Channel 5 talk show, a visibly emotional, Ola continued: “It’s tough, but when we shared our IVF story, so many people, friends and strangers, opened up about their own experiences. Talking about it helped. Before, we’d always get asked, ‘When are you having kids?’ But once people knew, those questions stopped. They came from a good place, but it was easier when we were open.”
Full of positivity after a successful first attempt and with two frozen embryos remaining, the couple were optimistic they might be able to conceive naturally after hearing success stories from friends. “Doctors told us that sometimes IVF kickstarts something in the body, and people conceive naturally the second time,” James explained. “But that didn’t happen for us.”
Eventually, they pursued IVF again, and Ola became pregnant. However, at eight weeks, they received devastating news: there was no heartbeat. She bravely recalled: "It was very heartbreaking, devastating. I’m okay about it now but if you asked me last year, I wouldn’t be able to sit here and talk about it so openly. We went in and suddenly everything went quiet and I knew something was not right..."
She continued: "You get choices, you can take a pill or go in and have it removed. We went in and had it removed. You just sit there at home and you’re hoping the heartbeat will come back. Maybe there’s a miracle. There wasn’t. Since what happened I realised how many people go through miscarriages, that’s why I want to talk about it because it’s okay."
