Interview with Actress Nia Vardalos

Host Dawn Davenport interviewed Nia Vardalos, actress (of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame), author of a new book Instant Mom, and foster care adoptive mom. We talked about her years of struggling with infertility and how she ended up adopting from foster care.

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I love the irony in the title of the book—Instant Mom-because it took you 9 years of infertility treatment, 2 failed surrogacy attempts, and numerous adoption attempts to become a mom, but when it happened, your daughter was in your home within 14 hours
When did you realize that getting pregnant and carrying a baby to term was not going to be easy?
13 IVF cycles-WOW! Why weren’t you able to stop sooner?
Did you consider donor eggs? It is a decision many in our audience have had to make—whether their next step should be donor egg or adoption.
How did you know it was time to finally stop treatment?
You say you moved quickly into adoption without much processing of the grief. I loved your line “any decision made in fear is a reaction, not an action.” Why was stepping back to experience the grief and loss of infertility important to you?
What adoption options did you consider?
I’m curious why you didn’t consider adopting from China because you were going through all of this in the heyday of Chinese adoptions.
Why did you choose to adopt from foster care?
How old was your daughter?
What do you say to people who have had a bad experience adopting from foster care?
How do you adopt from foster care?
Why did you change your daughter’s name? And I love the naming story, so why don’t you tell it?
How was the transition into your home?
Why do you think the transition was hard?
What tips can you give others for helping their new child adjust to your home and family?
How is your daughter doing now? How old is she?
How did you get that cute photo of you on the cover of the book?