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NASCAR’s Kyle Busch, Wife Samantha Say Fertility Struggles Put Marriage to the Test: ‘It Was Scary’
“We were spiraling,” Samantha Busch tells PEOPLE about the impact their fertility struggles had on their relationship
By Tricia Despres
April 19, 2021
NASCAR driver Kyle Busch and his wife Samantha have longed for a daughter for as long as they can remember. And in just a few days, the couple will find out if Samantha is in fact finally pregnant with their second child.
But getting to this point has been nothing short of downright grueling.
In fact, for over eight years, the couple have found themselves going through the physical and emotional roller coaster that is infertility, experiencing everything from a miscarriage to a failed IVF attempt and, in November, a second IVF failure while using an otherwise healthy surrogate.
Understandably, the stress of it all did have an effect on their otherwise strong marriage. In fact, during one particular painful time following Samantha’s miscarriage, the couple was even considering divorce.
“Kyle was my rock and it felt like I didn’t have that anymore,” Samantha, 34, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “We were spiraling. It felt like divorce was real and it was scary.”
The couple first met back in 2007, when Samantha, a psychology student at Indiana’s Purdue University, met the up-and-coming driver at a promotional event at a nearby racetrack. Three years later, they were married and quickly began preparing to build their family.
After a series of months in which Samantha failed to conceive naturally, the couple turned to IVF treatments, which eventually resulted in the birth of son Brexton in 2015. However, their quest for a second child not only landed the couple back in the infertility clinic, but also into marriage counseling.
“Kyle was sad but not broken the way I was,” Samantha remembers of the failed attempts to get pregnant. “I was angry with him for being stoic.”
Today, Samantha and Kyle have a renewed sense of hope. Not only has the couple been able to work through their problems in counseling, but Samantha recently underwent yet another egg retrieval and transfer under the care of Dr. William Schoolcraft with CCRM Fertility in Colorado.
“It’s what we’ve been working on, striving for, fighting for, for so long,” Kyle, 35, tells PEOPLE.
“I know I should be worried, but I’m not,” Samantha adds. “I’m at peace. I feel better than ever and I’m so ready for this. Bring it on!”
