Rapper Turned Country Singer Jelly Roll, 39, and Wife, Bunnie XO, 44, are Starting Their IVF Journey & Striving to be Healthier: ‘I Just Want to Feel Good’

Jelly Roll’s spoke with the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast this month about his health and fertility journey, and it comes shortly after he showed off his 70-pound weight loss at the Academy of Country Music Awards, which took place not long after the singer completed a 5k race in Los Angeles in May.

Speaking on the podcast, Jelly Roll said, “My wife and I are talking about having a baby, and it really made me realize that at almost 40, I was like, it means I got to live to at least 60. I got to see this kid in college.”

Jelly Roll, who has two children from previous relationships, 16-year-old Bailee Ann and 7-year-old Noah Buddy, opened up about him and his wife’s fertility journey after looking back on what motivated him to lose 60 pounds, saying, “I think it was realizing that I just want to feel good.”

He explained, “I thought that every problem I ever had in life would be solved if I ever found any kind of success and stability. And then I started to get success and stability and still none of those problems are solved.

“My plan was never to be 60. It was to be, like, 55. But now I’m like, ‘Well, I’d like to see my 60s.’ You know what I mean? And that really lit it up.”

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His wife also offered some insight into their fertility journey by re-sharing her husband’s podcast interview on Instagram and writing in overlay text, “We had planned on doing this privately, but decided our IVF journey needed to be shared because we’ve always been so open. And w/ all odds stacked against us, it’s already been hard & we have only just begun.

“J & I are so excited & scared all at the same time. We genuinely never thought we’d want to add to our family but something changed this year & we both just want a piece of us together to add to our already perfect family with Bailee & Noah.”

“God Willing- Baby DeFord 2026,” Bunnie XO wrote alongside the post.

 

Last year, Jelly Roll spoke with Fox News Digital during the 2023 CMA Awards, saying, “I don’t even have a goal when it comes to health.

“I just want to keep doing the right thing and feeling better. I’m starting to find a will to live and I wanna lean into that, that’s it. I just want to be happier.

He added, “Weight is normally directly related to mental health, so I’m trying to get that under control and the rest is following that.”

Guidance for Staying Healthy

We admire Jelly Roll for staying dedicated on his weight loss journey as he strives to live a longer life. It’s important to remember that working out and being nutritious doesn’t need to a scary experience.

In order to stay healthy, taking just a little time out of your day can make a huge difference.

Here are a few tips to be proactive:

• Take a little time to work out. This could be a walk around the block or light yoga class.
• Incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet.
• Cut down on alcohol intake. Moderation is key.
• Try substituting foods with sugar and carbs with healthier alternatives.
• Get up and move a few times a day.

Krista Maruschak explains how cutting “pro inflammatory” foods can decrease cancer risk

How Cancer Treatment Impacts Fertility

Although Jelly Roll and Bunny XO have not battled cancer, fertility struggles are something many who have gone through cancer can relate to, as certain cancer treatments can cause infertility. Fortunately, in many cases, efforts can be made before beginning treatment to help preserve fertility.

What’s more, many otherwise healthy couples, at one point or another, experience infertility. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within the U.S., “about one in five” married women between the ages of 15 to 49 with no prior births are unable to get pregnant after trying for a year. Additionally, “one in four” women in this group struggle to get pregnant or carry the pregnancy to term.

Infertility may affect many cancer patients undergoing treatment due to cancer treatment’s impacts on the body. Various cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation, can affect both men’s and women’s fertility. Before undergoing cancer treatment, patients should speak to their doctors about fertility preservation if they wish to have a family in the future.

Dr. Terri Woodard explains fertility preservation options patients have when going through cancer treatment.

Cancer’s Impact on Male Fertility

Cancer treatments like chemotherapy can damage sperm in men, and hormone therapy can decrease sperm production, according to the National Cancer Institute. Radiation treatment can also lead to lower sperm count and testosterone levels, impacting fertility.

These possible side effects of cancer treatment should be discussed with your doctor before starting treatment. Men may have the option to store their sperm in a sperm bank before treatment to preserve fertility.

This sperm can then be used later as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure in which a woman’s egg is fertilized with sperm in a lab. The embryo is then transferred to a woman’s uterus to develop.

Cancer’s Impact on Female Fertility

Just as cancer treatment can impact men’s fertility, women may also be affected. Some types of chemotherapy can destroy eggs in the ovaries. This can make it impossible or difficult to get pregnant later. Whether or not chemotherapy makes a woman infertile depends on the type of drug and her age since egg supply decreases with age.

“The risk is greater the older you are,” reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Jaime Knopman told SurvivorNet. “If you’re 39 and you get chemo that’s toxic to the ovaries, it’s most likely to make you menopausal. But, if you’re 29, your ovaries may recover because they have a higher baseline supply.”

Radiation to the pelvis can also destroy eggs. It can damage the uterus, too. Surgery to your ovaries or uterus can hurt fertility as well.

Meanwhile, endocrine or hormone therapy may block or suppress essential fertility hormones and may prevent a woman from getting pregnant. This infertility may be temporary or permanent, depending on the type and length of treatment.

If you are having a treatment that includes infertility as a possible side effect, your doctor won’t be able to tell you for sure whether you will have this side effect. That’s why you should discuss your options for fertility preservation before starting treatment.

Research shows that women who have fertility preserved before breast cancer treatment are more than twice as likely to give birth after treatment than those who don’t take fertility-preserving measures.

Most women who preserve their fertility before cancer treatment do so by freezing their eggs or embryos.

After you finish your cancer treatment, a doctor who specializes in reproductive medicine can implant one or more embryos in your uterus or the uterus of a surrogate with the hope that it will result in pregnancy.

If you freeze eggs only before treatment, a fertility specialist can use sperm and your eggs to create embryos in vitro and transfer them to your uterus.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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