Julia Bradbury opens up about sharing the ‘pain’ of her IVF treatment

Julia Bradbury has said she did not want to share “too much pain” with her 82-year-old mother Chrissi as she went through IVF.

The TV presenter, 49, underwent four rounds of treatment to conceive five-year-old twin daughters Xanthe and Zena.

Speaking to Hello! magazine, she said of her mother: “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 pair appeared together in an episode of ITV’s The Greek Islands With Julia Bradbury in which they visited Chios, home to Chrissi’s ancestors.

The former Countryfile presenter said: “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.”

She also praised her mother for giving her a “loving, secure childhood”.

She added: “I don’t think we’ve ever been in any doubt about the love there was, and that’s the greatest security you can offer your children. And I’m trying to give that to my children.

“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 (in Scotland), which is 60 metres high and quite dangerous, but I only told her about it afterwards.”

Chrissi said: “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.”

Read the full article in Hello! magazine, out now.