Heather Rae Young Reveals What Changed Her Mind About Having Kids With Tarek El Moussa
Heather Rae Young's marriage to Tarek El Moussa started out as a whirlwind. Before officially tying the knot, the "Selling Sunset" star was given a taste of being a stepmom to Tarek's two kids, Taylor and Brayden. "I give all the mamas props because being a bonus mom and future stepmom is the hardest job I have ever had!" she told the Daily Mail in August 2020. Heather barely had a chance to get acquainted with her stepchildren before moving in with the family. As most people are with any new "job," Heather struggled to get acclimated to her new duties at first. "The hardest thing is I'm raising humans and I've never raised a human before," she told Us Weekly in February 2021. "I was just thrown into it completely," she added.
The reality TV star was often asked if she wanted to have more children with Tarek, but initially she felt that her plate was already full. "I'm raising Tarek's babies, and we have them 50% of the time," she told E!'s "Daily Pop," she shared on Instagram in June 2021. "As of now I can't see myself wanting to add another into the family," Heather wrote in the caption.
By September 2021 Heather and Tarek changed their tune, announcing that they want to have a child together. "I'm like, 'Well, babe, what's one more?'" Heather recalled saying to her husband, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. So what caused her change of heart?
Being a stepmother influenced Heather Rae Young to have a baby
It was not only Heather Rae Young who was resistant to having a child — she and husband Tarek El Moussa both decided their family was complete. Neither of them predicted how Heather becoming a stepmom would alter their outlooks. Being a "bonus mom" to the "Flip or Flop" star's kids changed her opinion on having more children, but she was also impacted by seeing her husband interact with his two kids.
"To be honest, it was my love for Taylor and Brayden and honestly seeing Tarek as a daddy," Heather told Entertainment Tonight in January when asked about changing her mind on becoming a mom. "And then I started thinking, 'How could I not have one of my own and with the man that I love?" she added. Tarek said that being remarried gave him a fresh perspective, and made him realize he wanted to add to the family.
Heather opened up to fans about her pregnancy journey as she underwent IVF. In late December 2021, the "Selling Sunset" star took to TikTok to announce she was beginning treatment. "We'll find out how many eggs I have. Since in the past, I had low fertility and low egg count," she said in the short but revealing video.
A few weeks later, on January 11, Heather gave a detailed egg freezing update on Instagram. "This process isn't easy and isn't ideal but I'm trying to have a positive mindset," she wrote in the caption.