Jewellery designer Chupi announces pregnancy and shares her IVF journey

Jewellery designer Chupi Sweetman is expecting her first child, sharing the news in an Instagram post today.

Photos featuring Chupi and her husband Brian accompany the post which tells of the couple's three-year IVF journey. Their baby is due at the end of June and with a heart "full to bursting", the much-loved jeweller says that it's a miracle after a complicated IVF experience. Chupi's stunning Irish-made pieces have made her a household name across the country and today's news has delighted her many fans, who have left congratulatory comments aplenty via Instagram. She says that some friends questioned her decision to share the details of her pregnancy and her reasoning is perfect. Chupi is aware of the fact that many women in Ireland are undergoing the same struggles and she wanted to share the fact that "sometimes our lives only look perfect on the outside". She speaks of how her mum taught her that silence and secrecy only make things worse and by sharing her story, it might make other women feel less alone.

"A few friends have asked why am I sharing our story? Why not just post the smiling photo and be done? Because life is far more complex. 1 in 5 people trying for a baby will experience issues, for some it will be a bump on the road, for others a barrier that can never be overcome. And this all happens, they may be your family, your best friend, it may even be you. "But in sharing our good news I didn’t want to add pain to anyone’s journey, just to share that sometimes our lives only look perfect on the outside".

Chupi also says that she didn't share any details before now because it was too difficult and both her and Brian "just needed to get through". However, as Chupi lovers will know, women and their stories are celebrated daily with special anecdotes shared on Instagram regularly and so Chupi is sharing her own tale.

"I know for some of you this will feel irrelevant, you are here for the jewellery. But for me Chupi is about celebrating women and their stories, not just the perfect ones but the imperfect too. I haven’t shared here before because we needed to just get through. But thank you for giving me a space that’s been so filled with hope & love".

It's a truly beautiful post and is sure to touch women everywhere. In an additional post featured on Chupi's personal Instagram, she speaks of how, people assumed that she was obsessed with work and she had decided to not have kids. The reality could not have been further from the truth.

"But not everyone knows your story and as a woman in my 30s I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been asked why I don’t have kids? The patronising assumption was I was obsessed with work".