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Earlier this week, actress Trina McGee announced that she’s pregnant at 54 years old. Tracy has three adult children, Ramia, 31, Langston, 29, and Ezra, 25. Her Instagram announcement was worded, “At the tender age of 54, I have found myself pregnant.” I, and I think many others, read it with an inflection that made it sound like it was a surprise pregnancy. Turns out, Trina and her husband of 16 years, Marcello Thedford, have been trying to conceive a child together for quite some time, but to no avail. After considering but ultimately deciding against doing IVF, Trina and Marcus decided to try a “more holistic and organic approach” towards conceiving. Despite Trina already starting menopause, they headed to Belize, where she tried “natural remedies” – medicinal herbs recommended by shamans – that she feels helped her get pregnant naturally.
She feels happy and blessed: ”Just sheer joy, sheer joy, and I don’t partake in any of the negativity anybody has to say about it. I am so happy. I have been blessed, and that’s it,” the actress — best known for playing Angela Moore on the ABC sitcom — told ET. “And all I’m concerned about — I only have one job now – is to have this baby, and that’s what I’m about.
They’ve “long hoped” for a child: The actress says that she and Thedford had long hoped to welcome a child of their own — he is also dad to a son, Elijah, from another relationship — but that things had never worked for them until they took a more holistic and organic approach to the fertility process, she shares, even as she claims she was a year into menopause.
What led them to seek help in Belize: “I have been saying I wanted to have a baby with my current husband of 16 years for quite a while,” she said, adding that they even “tried” at one point to conceive without any kind of intervention to no avail. They also considered IVF but she shared that she was hesitant to go through that. Ultimately, they decided to seek out help in Belize where Thedford has a “cultural background.”
Shamans gave her medicinal herbs: There, they worked with the Garifuna people on natural remedies which she says have assisted her greatly in reversing menopause and helping them to conceive a child together. McGee admits that she is not a doctor by any means but that for her, the advice of “shamans” in Belize to take medicinal herbs — partnered with her already incredibly healthy lifestyle — helped her and her husband to achieve their long-time goal to become parents together.
A “low-stress” environment also played a part: She also credits a low-stress environment for helping to reverse menopausal signs and to assist in their efforts to grow their family. “The number one thing for me is to not partake in any stress and stay away from negativity as much as I can, and that pertains to what I put on TV, what I — what I look at on my phone, you know, there’s so much drama and violence and negativity out there as soon as you turn on the screen,” McGee said. “I really want to be pointed when I turn on the screen — what I’m watching. Because stress, for me, is the biggest factor.”
On taking a social media break: Part of that includes a step away from social media as she continues throughout the pregnancy. During her announcement, she shared that while they are very excited by the baby news, she would be taking a break from Instagram to focus on what matters — her family.
I’m happy for Trina and Marcelo for getting to fulfill their wish to have a child together. This must be a very long-awaited dream come true. Congrats to them. While I cannot imagine having a newborn at 54 – I’m 40 and exhausted, and my kids are six and 10, lol – if they’re up for it, then power to them. I’m sure they also have the resources to help support them during their journey and new parenthood, which probably makes it easier. Trina also mentions in the interview that she told her former Boy Meets World coworkers before she made her public announcement and they were all very happy for her.
As for her claims about medicinal herbs helping her get pregnant, I have no idea how much the natural remedies helped her. The most herbal thing I’ve ever taken was echinacea (although my mom keeps telling me to tell to try ashwagandha; she swears it helps with her anxiety). If they tried for years without any luck and coincidentally finally got pregnant after the trip, then who am I to get all skeptical about it? Women try a lot of different things when they’re trying to get pregnant, both scientific and anecdotal. I remember being told to take cough medicine when I was trying to get pregnant with my first because it supposedly helps if you produce mucus or something. When it comes to the recommendations, who knows what works and doesn’t. Congrats to Trina and Marcelo. May Trina have a smooth pregnancy and easy birth.
