Holding on to hope
“It feels good to talk about it,” says Ria Vandervis, through tears. The Shortland Street star has done many interviews during her eight years on the iconic Kiwi soap, but never once has she spoken publicly about one of the most important things in her life. Today, though, she’s sharing her story with Woman, opening up about her and her husband Chris Ashton’s heartbreaking six-year battle for a baby.
“There’s so much shame and a sense of failure wrapped up in fertility and miscarriage,” says the 36-year-old, who plays doctor and mother of two Harper Whitley on the show. “It can be such a lonely experience, but I think that if we start talking more it could really help.”
Although it’s undoubtedly a sad subject, it’s a smiling Ria who rushes into the Shortland Street cafeteria for our chat just before Christmas. Wearing high-waisted jeans, a white singlet and with her hair piled high on her head, she’s a bundle of energy – her beloved pooch Maeby at her feet. “Up you come!” she says, lifting the adorable schnauzer-foxy-Jack Russell cross onto her lap as she settles in with a coffee.
Ria’s been through the mill over the past six years, but hope is finally on the horizon in the form of ultimate gift: her younger sister Lottie has donated eggs and, right
