Mandy Moore shares honest IVF story after welcoming third child

Mandy Moore is sharing a chapter of motherhood that did not go according to plan – and that’s exactly what makes it so relatable.

Appearing on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, the actress revealed that before welcoming daughter Louise ‘Lou’ Goldsmith, she underwent IVF in hopes of creating future options for her growing family.

The plan seemed straightforward. The outcome? Not so much.

"So, I did a round of IVF, and it was unsuccessful, we didn't get any viable eggs, no embryos," Moore shared. "And I was like okay, well this just settles that. If this is something that is meant to be, it will happen naturally."

At the time, the This Is Us star was already grateful for sons Gus and Ozzie and felt content with whatever came next.

Then life threw her a surprise.

"And then Lou just had to show up," Moore joked.

"And she showed up very, very surprisingly. We were not trying, but obviously we were open to it because of the IVF of it all."

Now a mom of three children born with three and a half years, Moore admits she’s still catching her breath.

"I had three kids in three-and-a-half years," she said with a sigh, later adding that she is "still emotionally recovering."

Still, Moore considers herself fortunate. "I do feel lucky that energetically, pregnancy was very easy for me," she explained.

For many parents, her story is a reminder that family plans rarely follow a perfect script. Sometimes the plot twist arrives when you least expect it – and, in Moore’s case, it arrived in the form of baby Lou.