Julia Bradbury kept some of the "pain" of her IVF treatment a secret from her family.
The 49-year-old TV presenter – who has nine-year-old son Zephyrus and five-year-old twin daughters Xanthe and Zena with husband Gerard Cunningham – underwent four rounds of fertility treatment to conceive her daughters after suffering with endometriosis.
However, she decided to keep her pain a secret from her 82-year-old mother Chrissi, to ensure she didn’t worry about her daughter.
Speaking to HELLO! magazine, Julia said: "She was amazing. IVF is not pleasant, so it was a matter of getting the balance right between sharing the right moments and not exposing her to too much pain, as I knew it would be painful for her to see me going through it."
The former ‘Countryfile’ presenter knows her mother is wary of her family’s safety, so Julia treads carefully when sharing her news.
She explained: "My mum is very driven, determined and stubborn, all traits that I’ve inherited. But she’s very cautious. I did a rock climbing series once which ended up with me climbing a vertical sea stack in Sutherland [Scotland], which is 60 metres high and quite dangerous, but I only told her about it afterwards."
Chrissi recalled the moment her daughter told her about the excursion: "She sat me down in front of the TV, held my hand, looked me in the eyes and said, ‘I’ve done it, yes it was dangerous, and now you can see it.’ I did nothing but cry the whole way through."
The mother and daughter duo also appeared in a recent episode of ‘The Greek Islands with Julia Bradbury’ where they explored Chios together.
The island was home to Chrissi’s ancestors, and the pair felt the experience was a "seminal moment" for their relationship.
Julia added: "It was an amazing thing to do together, at this stage in our lives, a seminal moment in our relationship.
"We were in Greece, our homeland, going on this adventure and tracing Mum’s roots, and for it to be immortalised on film was a lovely, special thing to do."
Julia Bradbury hid IVF ‘pain’ from family
