Maria Menounos will never forget how one friend treated her horribly for using a surrogate.
As Perezcious readers may know, the former E! News host and her husband Keven Undergaro welcomed daughter Athena Alexandra via a surrogate in June 2023. Having a baby is one of the happiest times in someone’s life. It is a moment you want to share with your closest friends and family. But when Maria told one pal that she used a surrogate to have a child, she dealt with a very hurtful reaction.
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On Monday’s episode of the Women in the Nude podcast, host Sasha Pieterse asked whether anybody gave her “s**t” for going down the surrogacy route. And sadly, Maria had dealt with that. She recalled:
“It’s funny because we have some — well, they were friends. One of them worked for me for a while, and this is somebody who was, like, so sweet and I loved.”
That friend wasn’t so “sweet” after finding out about the surrogacy, though! You see, the entertainment journalist had a brain tumor in 2017. She suffered from complications during the tumor removal, so “the top neurosurgeon in the world” advised her not to carry her own child. That led the couple to go down the surrogate route.
Upon learning how Maria and Kevin were having a baby through surrogacy, the 46-year-old claimed on the podcast that her friend approached her husband and asked:
“‘What do you mean she can’t carry? Like, that doesn’t make any sense.’”
When Kevin explained the situation, the pal still didn’t understand:
“[The friend] was like, ‘I just don’t get it. It just doesn’t make any sense.’”
However, Maria soon realized her friend didn’t just not “get” what was happening, she was actually judging the television personality for not carrying her own kid. WTF! Because of this, Maria cut ties with the pal, she explained:
“And I was like, ‘Oh, I never want to talk to you again, and I never want to see you again.’”
Whoa!
Maria pointed out that it’s “one thing to be judged by outside people who don’t know and don’t get it.” However, for someone who “actually” knew her to try to shame her like that is another thing, she said:
“For you to even say anything so judgmental is just crazy to me.”
They definitely were not a good friend! No wonder she ended the friendship! You should be happy and celebrating that your pal is finally getting to start a family after years of health and fertility struggles — not grossly judging them. How awful.
Watch a clip from the podcast (below):
Reactions?? Can you believe the friend reacted like that? Share your thoughts (below).
[Image via NBC/YouTube & Maria Menounos/Instagram]