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There’s a children’s rhyme called “The Kissing Song” in which the lyrics go “First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes a baby in the baby carriage.”

So, it seems like a natural progression of events for a couple fall in love, marry, then start a family after several years. This usually happens after you’ve found your dream home and reckon that you’re in a good place, financially, to start a family.

However, your best-laid plans can be derailed when fertility issues crop up. Indeed, approximately one-third of a couple’s fertility issues are due to women, one-third to men, and the remaining one-third from both partners or from unknown causes.

The good news is that with medical advancements, you and your spouse can turn to various fertility options: These include:

* Hormone therapy.

* Intra-uterine insemination.

* In vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Although these procedures are costly — one cycle of IVF can cost between $15,000 and $20,000 —government policies are in place to subsidise your spending.

More and more celebrity couples are also conceiving through IVF procedures. Take a look at their stories that’ll inspire you to press on in your quest to be a parent...

Gigi Lai, 52

Dubbed as the Goddess of Beauty by Hong Kong media, Gigi married businessman Patrick Ma Ting-kung, 61, in 2008. It was not until two years later that the power couple managed to conceive twin daughters — Gianna and Patricia — through IVF. Then again in 2012, the couple welcomed another daughter, Pegella, to their family the same way. Lai retired from acting a decade ago following her brother, Stephen’s near-fatal car accident in 2007, which left him in a wheelchair. She took over his cosmetics business and with her Midas touch, grew the business into a public-listed company, increasing her family’s wealth to an enviable HK$1.1 billion (S$190 million)! No wonder she’s earned praise from fans, who laud her as their ideal #galboss! (Photo: 8 Days)

Kim Kardashian, 37

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star had to overcome a complicated delivery caused by preeclampsia to deliver her firstborn, daughter North, in 2013. After their harrowing experience, the reality TV star and her rapper husband, Kanye West, turned to IVF to conceive their second child. The couple reportedly spent a whopping US$230,000 ($301 760) on IVF treatment that resulted in the birth of Saint West, 2. While KimK was thrilled about being pregnant, People magazine notes that Kardashian had to suffer the worst morning, day and night sickness. So, little wonder the couple decided to turn to a surrogate for their third child, a girl named Chicago, who will arrived on 13 January 2018. (Photo: PopSugar)

Brooke Shields, 52

The actress tried numerous rounds of IVF treatments and endured a miscarriage before conceiving in her last round of treatment. Brooke gave birth to her daughter — Rowan Francis Henchy, 14 — which she shares with her hubby, screenwriter and producer Chris Henchy, 53. The actress shared her brutally honest account of having to manage the injections process in her book detailing her battle with postnatal depression, Down Came The Rain, in 2005. Brooke wrote of her agonising fertility treatment, “We’d find ourselves out at dinner with friends, and then we’d have to sneak off to a coat room, where we’d huddle over syringes and a travel-size cooler filled with small bottles of drugs.” In 2006, Shields conceived her second daughter, Grier Hammond Henchy, 11, naturally. (Photo: Daily Mail)

Celine Dion, 49

The My Heart Will Go On singer and her husband, René Angélil — who died in in 2016 — turned to IVF following the discovery that Angelil suffered from a low sperm count. The couple had son, Rene-Charles, 17, via IVF in 2001. The diva had to endure six rounds of IVF and a miscarriage before finally conceiving twin boys Eddy and Nelson, both 8, in 2010. Even as Celine hits the big 5-0 this year, the world-famous Canadian chanteuse is not letting age slow her down one bit! She will be embarking on her Asia-Pacific tour from June to August. In fact, you can catch her performing at the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore in July. (Photo: Instagram/Celine Dion)

Chrissy Teigen, 32

The former Sports Illustrated model drew flak when she revealed that she and husband John Legend, 39, had hand-picked a female embryo as she wanted to deliver a daughter. Following public outrage, the sassy mama quickly defended herself by dropping a hilarious tweet saying, “I also picked the embryo with a taste for bacon, a knack for magic and size 7 feet, so she can always find shoes.” Chrissy gave birth to daughter Luna Simone Stephens in April 2016. The A-list couple is set to present Luna with a playmate in the form of a baby brother, also conceived through IVF, this year! (Photos: Instagram/Chrissy Teigen)

Christine Fan, 41

Married to popular Taiwanese variety show host, Blackie Chen, 40, Christine recounted her challenging pregnancy experiences in her own book, The Pandas are Here. In it, Christine reveals she had to inject ovulation-inducing medication to her abdomen for a period of 10 days. These jabs brought along side effects such as bruises on her stomach, weight gain and terrible mood swings. The Chinese variety show host also had to insert progesterone gel into her body, which caused her to experience nausea. Her doting hubby, Chen was by her side every step of the way, even helping with the injections. The couple’s struggles paid off in a big way when they welcomed their twin boys, River and Ryan, in January 2015. (Photo: Toggle)

Emma Thompson, 58

Thompson, who has polycystic ovary syndrome, miscarried in 1997 while she was still married to actor-director Kenneth Branagh. Two years later, the renowned Oscar-winning British actress welcomed their firstborn daughter — Gaia Romilly Wise, 18 — after IVF treatment with her then boyfriend, Greg Wise, 51, whom she later married. Sadly, the couple weren’t so lucky with their second IVF treatment. Emma, who struggled to make peace with the failure and slipped into a deep depression, later admitted that there were days she couldn’t even get dressed or leave her home. Recounting the experience in his Daily Mail interview in 2014, Wise said, “[IVF is] a brutal process and it’s very emotional. It’s really hard, but then you pick yourself up, look around and see this unbelievably beautiful little baby you’ve got anyway.” The couple eventually adopted a former Rwandan child soldier, Tindyebwa Agaba, 31, in 2003. (Photo: Express)

Courteney Cox, 53

The Cougar Town star got pregnant at the age of 41, after dealing with multiple rounds of miscarriages before finally giving birth to daughter Coco, 13, with ex-husband David Arquette, 46, via IVF. Courteney reveals to New Beauty magazine that her teen likes to experiment with makeup in her free time. “I know some people think I should rein her in with the makeup, but it’s a form of self-expression… I want to keep an open relationship with her. I care more about what she’s watching than what she’s putting on her face.” Courteney, who’s engaged to Snow Patrol musician Johnny McDaid, 41, hasn’t given up on her hopes of becoming a mother in her 50s, either. “I would love to have a baby now. I mean, I could carry someone else’s egg. I may be one of the older people doing it, but I would love to, with Johnny that is. I know it’s crazy, but I would.” (Photo: Just Jared)

Penny Lancaster, 46

Married to legendary British rock legend Rod Stewart, 73, who was already a father of six, Penny delivered son Aiden in 2011 after three rounds of IVF treatment. Penny told Hello! Magazine that homeopathic doctors had told her that mercury levels in her body were too high because of her high-protein, low-fat seafood diet. This hindered her ability to conceive. Penny admits, “I do love fish, and I thought it was healthy without understanding the high mercury levels that fish like tuna, swordfish and halibut can contain.” Just by cutting out fish for two months, the statuesque former model’s mercury levels were halved. Excessive levels of mercury can be dangerous for unborn children, causing them to develop brain damage. The Stewarts’ elder son, Alastair, was born in 2005. (Photo: Instagram/Rod Stewart)