Gabrielle Union [1] may have only welcomed her first child three months ago [2], but she's already got her parenting style down to a science. The 46-year-old actress recently sat down with Women's Health magazine to chat about her infertility struggles [3], what she looked for in a surrogate, and how she's raising baby Kaavia [4], and moms new and old can definitely learn a thing or two from her revelations. Read on for a handful of standout quotes from Gabrielle's interview, then head over to WomensHealthMag.com [5] to read the entire March 2019 cover story.
![On the side effects of IVF: "My face looked like the surface of the moon, small chunks of hair were falling out. At 9 a.m. I had a flat stomach. By noon, I looked like I was 5 months pregnant."
On her fertility issues and committing to surrogacy: "There's nothing more that I wanted than to cook my own baby . . . the idea of [surrogacy] felt like surrendering to failure."](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/yAm10_HqFCfRiYvX5gb4km-bj68/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2019/02/06/702/n/24155406/cc2908a834c4582d_WHMarchCover/i/side-effects-IVF-My-face-looked-like-surface.jpg "On the side effects of IVF: \"My face looked like the surface of the moon, small chunks of hair were falling out. At 9 a.m. I had a flat stomach. By noon, I looked like I was 5 months pregnant.\"
On her fertility issues and committing to surrogacy: \"There's nothing more that I wanted than to cook my own baby . . . the idea of [surrogacy] felt like surrendering to failure.\"")
- On the side effects of IVF: "My face looked like the surface of the moon, small chunks of hair were falling out. At 9 a.m. I had a flat stomach. By noon, I looked like I was 5 months pregnant."
- On her fertility issues and committing to surrogacy: "There's nothing more that I wanted than to cook my own baby . . . the idea of [surrogacy] felt like surrendering to failure."
- On what she looked for in a surrogate: "Some people care about the race, religion, or food habits of their surrogate. I was like, 'I want a reader.'"
- On what she feared most about revealing her surrogate pregnancy: "People want to see the bump, hear that you got hemorrhoids. They want to know you're like them. I was like, 'This is going to seem like the most Hollywood sh*t ever. Will I be embraced as a mom?' It's terrifying."
- On how she's raising her daughter: "I want to let her be free. I want to instill in her morals, values. And then I want to give her space to fill in those gaps, fall on her ass, and make mistakes. Get an F because she didn't study. Pick the wrong dude. Pick the wrong friends and figure it out. I don't want to be super judge-y."
![On what is really feels like to be a new mom: "[It's] like that second day in Vegas where you're all, 'I'm not sleeping Saturday away. I'm going to day-party and rally!' But your body is like, 'Are you crazy?' You're exhausted and you kind of start to feel a little ill because you haven't slept."
On why becoming a mother in her 40s was the right move: "Any earlier and the FOMO would have greatly influenced how I parented. I've seen it. I've done it. I've done it well. I've gotten all the T-shirts. Now I'm in the right mindset and mental space, and I'm open to being the best mom I can be."](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/C_Za0iG8ZATvbA8vgpPn7wW42TI/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2019/02/06/702/n/24155406/f82f9b2e66eea5d9_WHM030119coverstory_001/i/what-really-feels-like-new-mom-like.jpg "On what is really feels like to be a new mom: \"[It's] like that second day in Vegas where you're all, 'I'm not sleeping Saturday away. I'm going to day-party and rally!' But your body is like, 'Are you crazy?' You're exhausted and you kind of start to feel a little ill because you haven't slept.\"
On why becoming a mother in her 40s was the right move: \"Any earlier and the FOMO would have greatly influenced how I parented. I've seen it. I've done it. I've done it well. I've gotten all the T-shirts. Now I'm in the right mindset and mental space, and I'm open to being the best mom I can be.\"")
- On what is really feels like to be a new mom: "[It's] like that second day in Vegas where you're all, 'I'm not sleeping Saturday away. I'm going to day-party and rally!' But your body is like, 'Are you crazy?' You're exhausted and you kind of start to feel a little ill because you haven't slept."
- On why becoming a mother in her 40s was the right move: "Any earlier and the FOMO would have greatly influenced how I parented. I've seen it. I've done it. I've done it well. I've gotten all the T-shirts. Now I'm in the right mindset and mental space, and I'm open to being the best mom I can be."
