14 DAY TRIAL // She’s just 27 but she’s already been told that she may never have a child naturally, unless she receives IVF. Former glamour model Chantelle Houghton says in a new interview that crash diets and eating disorders cost her the chance to have a family.
In recent years, Chantelle has been very open about her unhealthy eating patterns, which she developed, she says, because of the pressure of being in the spotlight.
She developed bulimia and, later on, anorexia. For days on end, she would survive only on water and all of this inevitably took a toll on her health, she says in a brand new interview for Heat magazine.
“I’ve punished my body, and now it’s punishing me. Ultimately it’s my fault. I hate myself and can never forgive myself,” the star says for the publication.
“Because of my obsession with food and my crash dieting when I had bulimia, I’ve ruined my chances of having a baby naturally,” she adds.
It’s just now that she realizes the damage she did to her body all those years when she tried to stay skinny no matter the cost.
“All the time I was making myself sick, I was thinking: ‘Yes, I’m getting skinnier.’ I thought I was winning, but I was losing. It’s cost me the chance of a family,” she adds.
Complaining of severe stomach pains, she was referred to fertility expert Dr. Amin Gorgy, who told her that her problems were of a more serious nature – and down to her unhealthy lifestyle choices, particularly her constant dieting.
“He told me that I’d never be able to conceive naturally. Dr. Gorgy told me that I had low fertility and that if I wanted to have a baby, I’d have to have IVF,” Chantelle says.
“He said that if I’d waited another three years, I would never be able to have children at all. I wouldn’t have any eggs left,” she adds.
Since the damage is already done in her case, Chantelle hopes that her example will help other women understand the risk they’re running when they start a crash diet.
Keeping the weight off means eating healthy and working out and not starving yourself, she says. She knows now this better than most women, because it’s cost her shot at a family.