Since 2008, Gigi Gorgeous has shared countless makeup tutorials and vlogs to her over two million YouTube subscribers, inspiring two generations of trans women along the way. Her self-documented transition has been a reference for trans people all over the world.
But in recent years, Gorgeous brought up a topic of discussion that may have surprised longtime viewers when she opened up about having to stop HRT to pursue her IVF treatment. Her vulnerability allowed her fans to see a new side of her, bringing to light an overlooked conversation about undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment as a trans person when stopping HRT might be the best option for better outcomes.
After establishing her career in Los Angeles, the mother of YouTube is coming back to Toronto, the city that saw her grow from a young content creator to a multi-hyphenated woman, to announce a grant at the Pink Triangle Press Pink Awards to help the IVF journey of an LGBTQ2S+ individual in Canada. (Pink Triangle Press is Xtra’s parent company.)
Gorgeous told Xtra about her collaboration with the Fertility Friends Foundation, her IVF journey and what motherhood means to her.
From being a YouTube icon since 2008 to releasing your 2017 documentary This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous and writing 2023’s The T Guide with Gottmik, you have been a trailblazer for the trans community. Beyond the legacy you have forged these past two decades, how would you describe the Gigi of 2026?
I’m more educated. Over the years, I’ve heard countless stories from countless countries and from people whom I never would have met. I’ve become much more woke from culture, food, life experiences and family struggles. My life was so small and insular in Toronto, but over the years, I have travelled the world and that has opened my third eye more.
You’re in Toronto for the Pink Awards, where you are honouring the Fertility Friends Foundation, an organization that helps people access assisted reproductive treatments, donor services and surrogacy. How did your relationship with the foundation start?
The Fertility Friends Foundation reached out to me because of a mutual friend, and I thought that was something to explore. Originally it all started with me and my ex-husband developing embryos through the IVF process. I know how financially hard it is, and how much of a burden it is on people who want to have a family of their own, but they don’t have the means to. So when this came about, [the foundation and I] came up with the Gorgeous Grants, and it’s finally happening. We’re about to pick the first Gorgeous Grant family.
Could you tell me a bit more about the Gorgeous Grants?
The Gorgeous Grants are basically a stepping stone for people who do not have the funds to create their own family. I went through several rounds of IVF with my ex-husband, and we created a few embryos that were ultimately not put in a surrogate and never born, which was devastating. [Gorgeous and her ex-husband, Nats Getty, filed for divorce in 2025.] The experience made me very attached to the foundation, because it feels so personal going through all of the process, and then not seeing it through. It was a very hard pill to swallow.
But it gives me great joy to partner with the Fertility Friends Foundation because I can give those people who are still on the road to building their family hope that they will build a family. It’s giving funds to them to get through their IVF journey and have a child of their own, with the means that they don’t have.
When did your relationship to fertility start and how has it evolved over the years?
It stays evolving. I grew up wanting a kid. I grew up wanting to get married, and then lived life not wanting marriage, not wanting kids and then going back to wanting kids and marriage. I think that I’ve always wanted it, but I suppressed it because I felt like I didn’t deserve it, or that it wasn’t really in the cards for me.
Anybody who is fighting for a child really wants a kid. It’s an accident for a lot of people to become pregnant and become parents, yet for people like us, we’re really seeking that out, really wanting this. So that’s why I felt attached to this cause and called to be a part of this.
What were some of the challenges that you encountered while going through IVF as a trans woman?
Oh God! I mean, the biggest thing is that it’s so awkward going into these clinics. I didn’t see a queer person in my clinic, it was all cisgender hetero relationships, so it was very awkward, to say the least.
But also being on estrogen and T-blockers for so long was tough, because as a trans woman, your sperm count is severely depleted, and it’s not easy to give a very good “viable” sample.
I had to give a lot of samples to them. At the end of the day, they want to get a good sample. It was emotionally taxing because I kind of had to put my femininity to the side for the future family that I wanted to build.
As trans women, we want to be as feminine as we can be. I had to put that to the side. Once I got over it, it was very easy to lean into, which I think is something that I really want to help girls with because it’s so important while you still have viable sperm to save it up if you ultimately want to have a biological baby. I am very much into telling them if you can, if you have the means, freeze your sperm while it’s still healthy, and then you’ll always have that to fall back on. But not everyone has the means to do that.
Motherhood is still tied to very conventional standards. What does motherhood mean and look like to you today?
I mean, girl, I literally just got a new kitten, and he is literally my baby. I used to have three kittens, I used to have six dogs. So motherhood to me is not only about humans. Motherhood is everything.
Motherhood is being a mother to a younger trans person, mothering them through it and giving them all the answers and tools that they ask you for. Motherhood is being a kitten mom. Motherhood is being a dog mom, a fish mom, a lizard mom. It’s about embracing your femininity and helping someone not necessarily younger than you, but helping someone next to you. I don’t know how to say it without swearing, but it’s giving, like, “Yes, bitch, fuck it, you are fucking cunt.”
Do you see being a mother to a child in the foreseeable future for you after going through the IVF process?
I would hope so. I would love a child, it would just have to be in the right circumstance. I think once divorce is on the table, it’s really easy to retreat to a place of never wanting to do that again. But at the same time, there is hope. It’s kind of hard to imagine it, but crazier things have happened, right?
What do you hope the Fertility Friends Foundation brings more awareness to? And how do you hope your partnership with them continues to evolve?
My ex and I are both trans. There was almost no representation in that space when it came to fertility for trans couples. Representation-wise, I definitely want to bring more of the trans element to the Gorgeous Grants.
How does it feel to be presenting this grant in Toronto, the city you grew up in?
The Fairmont, where the ceremony is being held, is right across from the station that I used to get off at every day to go back to and from where I grew up in Mississauga.
So it’s very surreal to be there and doing this at this stage in my life. It’s a full-circle moment. It means the world to me to be a champion alongside Emily Hampshire and Peppermint. It’s gonna be a glamorous room full of people who are like-minded, whom I respect and whom I call friends.
With all of the things that are happening in the U.S., have you ever thought of moving back to Toronto?
It’s a thought I have every single day.
I love the United States and all the opportunities I’ve had here, but Toronto will always be my home. Whenever I go home, it’s like a sigh of relief for me. But I’m solidified here. It’s a responsibility for me to stay to try to fight and get my foot in the door wherever I can while I’m here. But Toronto will always have the biggest place in my heart.
What have you missed the most about Toronto?
I love that I’m gonna go home soon and see the fall leaves. I think people in Toronto are unmatched. You can tell when someone’s Canadian, not just by their accent but by how inherently nice they are. I miss Tim Hortons. My sister just texted me and said the honey mustard sandwich is back.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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