After years of infertility, surgeries, and pregnancy loss, Tara Lipinski and her husband, Todd Kapostasy, welcomed their daughter, Georgie, through surrogacy in 2023. Now, at 43, she is preparing to undergo the process again.
In a conversation with Maria Shriver on TODAY, the former Olympic figure skater said she and Kapostasy, 42, plan to try for another child using embryos they created during what she described as a grueling process, one that included multiple rounds of IVF, eight egg retrievals, and repeated setbacks.
“We’re going to use surrogacy again,” Lipinski told Shriver.
She noted that they still have embryos remaining from that process and made clear their intention to continue.
“I joke… we’re going to use all five of those embryos,” she said with a laugh.
Since that interview, Lipinski has shared a heartbreaking update. In an emotional Instagram post published May 1, she revealed that she and Kapostasy had recently experienced a second-trimester pregnancy loss during their ongoing surrogacy process.
“A few months ago, we lost our baby in the second trimester,” she wrote, explaining that they had been on their second surrogacy journey for two years. Along the way, they faced challenges, first needing to find a new surrogate after their original match wasn’t medically cleared, followed by a failed embryo transfer.
Lipinski described the experience as “devastating,” while expressing gratitude for both the surrogate who carried their daughter and the woman who carried their recent pregnancy, calling the connection “forever” meaningful.”
“Reading so many of your stories has reminded me how important it is to share,” she wrote, “even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.”
Lipinski, the mother of 2-year-old Georgie, admitted she once feared becoming a mother later in life — “I’m in my 40s. I’m going to feel so old” — but said the reality has been the opposite.
“I don’t care… I love it,” she said.
That sense of joy, she said, is rooted in everything it took to get there, including four miscarriages and six failed IVF transfers.
“There really is this extra level of gratitude that I feel every single day when I look at her — even in those hard moments,” Lipinski told TODAY.com in 2024. “I just think, ‘This is what I wanted so badly. I dreamt of this.’ Not that there’s ever a silver lining to going through as much trauma as I did, but I am able to cherish those (hard) moments.”
Speaking with Shriver, Lipinski said her 40s have brought a new sense of perspective.
“I just feel like I know what’s important, what I want,” Lipinski said. Her circle, added, may be “getting smaller,” but “deeper and more meaningful.”
“I care less about people’s opinions,” she said. “You take it or leave it.”
