Florence Pugh Described Freezing Her Eggs As “Tiring & Horrible”

Five months after opening up about her decision to freeze her eggs at 27, Florence Pugh is offering more insight into her fertility journey. The Thunderbolts star spoke about the process during her new cover interview for Harper’s Bazaar UK and shared some of the challenges, including the online hate she’s faced.

Florence’s Fertility Update

Pugh, 29, told the magazine that she started the process of freezing her eggs after being diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at 27. It hasn’t been easy, though. She called the experience “tiring and horrible.”

And it hasn’t been helpful to see the negative response from internet trolls. “There was a clickbait article about me doing it,” she said. “I know you shouldn’t read the comments but... urgh. I wish there was a little more tenderness and understanding.”

Pugh first discussed her decision to freeze her eggs in November on the SHE MD podcast. She explained that she’d like to have kids in the next five years but learned it could be difficult for her. Given that both endometriosis and PCOS can cause infertility, her doctor recommended that she take steps to prepare. The situation was unexpected and “mind-boggling” for her, Pugh said.

“It was just so bizarre because my family are baby-making machines,” Pugh said on the podcast. “My mum had babies into her 40s, my gran … had so many kids as well. I just never assumed that I was going to be in any way different and that there was going to be an issue with it.”

Love And Family Planning

Speaking to British Vogue in September, Pugh shared that she was in a relationship and has “always been thinking about starting a family.”

“I’ve never stopped knowing that I want to have kids,” she said. “It’s just figuring out when.”

In October, Pugh expanded on the dilemma during a Bustle interview about her romantic drama with Andrew Garfield, We Live in Time.

“If you are that driven and you want to own the world that you’re working in and you want to feel like you’ve made it and you’re successful, the conversation of kids and when you’re going to do it and if you want it is always in the back of your mind,” she said. “So I’m very grateful that I got to play a character like that because I am that story, my friends are that story.”

Her romantic relationship has gotten more serious since then, and Pugh told Harper’s Bazaar UK that she’s in love and is doing things differently than she did in the past.

“I’m more sympathetic to the people who are in love with me, because it’s not easy! I’m tricky — I’m always busy, I can never make dates,” she said. “But it’s not good enough for me to ask someone to just accept that. I’ll just end up alone. I don’t want that — I want a family.”