Why Maria Menounos Is Still Pursuing IVF

In February, Maria Menounos received a surely unwelcome but ultimately eye-opening medical diagnosis: The E! News host had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. Luckily, it was benign, and doctors were able to remove most of it last month, she revealed to People magazine, on stands Monday. But although the experience prompted the television personality to resign from her job at E! News, Maria Menounos revealed her plan to have a family via IVF as well. It's been a long-held (and very public) intention of hers to welcome a baby into the world with her fiancé, Keven Undergaro, and this health scare certainly isn't going to get in her way. In fact, it seems as though it reinvigorated her.

The 39-year-old Menounos documented her struggle to get pregnant on well before headaches and slurred speech led to her diagnosis. She offered a glimpse into her IVF egg-retrieval process back in March of 2016 and let fans in on her disappointment over another negative pregnancy test last June. And the experience of having a brain tumor showed her that it was time to put herself first, she told People:

I am going to take some time and focus on some passion projects and see what's next. I've always been so proud of being a hard worker, but there's so much more out there.

Clearly, for Menounos, a large part of that "so much more" is the possibility of having a family of her own. In an interview with People, she shared that she and Undergaro still very much "want to have a family" — even as she recovers and continues to care for her own mother, who has stage 4 brain cancer herself. It makes total sense: Of course undergoing an intense seven-hour surgery (which, in Menounos' case, removed 99.9 percent of the tumor) would prompt a person to go after what she wants so much in life — especially when that something is as time-sensitive as getting pregnant.

In an Instagram post Monday featuring a photo of herself with her mom, Menounos thanked everyone who had supported her, including her doctor, nurses, friends, and family — and shared the good news that she won't need any additional treatment. "I want you all to know that I'm ok!" she wrote. "Seriously I'm recovering well and should be as good as new very very soon!"

Although there's a very small chance that the tumor could return, the more likely outcome (and the happier one) is that Menounos will be able to devote herself completely to getting pregnant — and to enjoying every moment of raising her child or children. Maybe her fans will miss on E! News, but seeing those baby pics on Instagram or Snapchat sometime soon will be a great consolation.