Anyone who knows Erin Andrews beyond the NFL sidelines knows she doesn’t just hustle under the bright lights. She grinds behind the scenes, too. Sure, she is the face of game day broadcasts and red carpets, but Erin’s real journey has been years in the making. And it includes a plethora of human moments that make her so very relatable.

Nearly a decade of fertility treatments, multiple IVF rounds, heartbreaking miscarriages (through surrogacy), a cervical cancer diagnosis, and finally, the birth of her son Mack in 2023. What she has endured isn’t just physically grueling; it is quite emotional, and is still unfolding. And yet, like everything Erin touches, she has turned even the hardest chapters into honest, empowering conversations.

Recently, as she talked about her IVF treatments, it has helped countless women and aspiring parents in general feel a little less alone. In a deeply personal moment on the Calm Down Podcast, Andrews offered heartfelt advice to anyone navigating the physical and emotional rollercoaster of IVF. The IG clip is titled, “How to handle your first round of IVF.” Reflecting on her own journey, one that included up to nine rounds, Erin opened up on both the physical and mental exhaustion to her co-host Charissa Thompson, saying, “Full disclosure, it’s not great.” However, she further added, “It’s not that bad.”

While the first week kicks off with hormonal injections and the uncertainty of how long they’ll last, Andrews stressed the importance of preparing early. “Start taking your vitamins and all your supplements now,” she told Charissa. As draining as the blood draws and daily shots can be, she reminded listeners that when it’s successful, it really does feel worth it. “It’s like a month of your life,” she said, offering reassurance that even the toughest moments pass.

What made the conversation so powerful was Andrews’ mix of compassion and humor, as she dealt with its reality. She didn’t sugarcoat the process. “Sometimes you’re doing it every day and you’re like, I don’t have any more places for you to take blood.” But, she also pointed out the unexpected ease of retrieval day, where “you get to be put asleep… and go home.” Her message to the men listening, if they felt this was too graphic, was simple: “I don’t care.” And for women going through IVF, her advice was clear. Be ready to expect a month of discomfort, know that you’ll have to skip workouts during recovery, and trust that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed.

After trying IVF for nearly a decade, Erin found herself in that all-too-familiar loop of bloated weeks, hormone crashes, and more heartbreak than she could count. She and her husband, former NHL player Jarret Stoll, went through round after round. Erin even joked about eating sausage biscuits in a McDonald’s drive-thru while sobbing post-treatment. Sounds like something out of a dramatic movie, but no, this was real life. And while many of us might’ve chosen to keep it all hush-hush, Erin decided to go fully public with the pain.

And then came surrogacy, also not the fairytale route people imagine. The first attempt ended in a gut-wrenching loss (twins, no less), and Erin tried to push through like everything was fine, but it wasn’t. But then, magic happened with one embryo left, and one amazing surrogate. The unforgettable moment came in the delivery room, where their son, Mack, made his grand entrance after just one push. She called him their “golden embryo,” and honestly, it doesn’t get more cinematic than that. Erin grabbed the surrogate’s hand and held on. Even now, they still visit her and her husband!

Fast forward to parenting life, Erin’s navigating that “I’m-not-doing-enough” mom guilt like the rest of us, all while staying grounded by taking one look at Mack. And when a second surrogate sadly miscarried in 2025, Erin did what she does best: she shared the pain, so others wouldn’t feel alone. She has also spoken up about her battle with cancer, to empower others facing the same challenge.

Erin Andrews’ journey with cancer

Erin Andrews had a major life plot twist back in 2016, and no, it wasn’t on live TV (for once). She was just wrapping up her preseason checkups, thinking ahead to another jam-packed NFL season and maybe some sparkly Dancing with the Stars action, when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. And her first reaction was classic Erin. She simply said, “I don’t have time for this.”

Erin didn’t go public right away either, because of course, she kept working. Five days after one of her procedures, she was back on the sidelines, headset on, calling plays and pretending she wasn’t recovering from cancer. “Should I have been standing for a full game five days after surgery? Let’s just say the doctor didn’t recommend that… [But] sports were my escape. I needed to be with my crew,” she said.

After her first surgery revealed the cancer had not been fully removed, she had a second, more extensive surgery. By November, she was declared cancer-free. Erin kept things moving and made space for real conversations with her then-boyfriend (now hubby) Jarret Stoll. She started to talk about fertility, frozen embryos, and future babies. “We just wanna be smart,” she said at the time.

As she made a public reveal of her cancer, she took to launched awareness campaigns, reminded women to book those screenings, and even admitted she still gets nervous before checkups. She has teamed up with AstraZeneca and launched advocacy campaigns and merchandise to promote routine cancer screenings. Even in 2025, Erin said that she is also dealing with a little “pre-skin cancer situation.” Indeed, Erin Andrews had one of those whirlwind journeys you almost don’t believe, until she talks about it herself. And, once she does talk, it makes us admire her even more.