'Not alone': Why Sarah Abo's pregnancy announcement is so important to those battling infertility

OPINION -- When Today host Sarah Abo ?revealed today she's pregnant with her first child at 40, her announcement left herself and those around her in tears.

With her Today family seated around her, and after predicting she was "going to try and fail to maintain her composure", the celebrated journalist announced she was "expecting a little baby" with her husband of 13 years, Cyrus Moran.

But it was what came next that caught many off guard, as Abo revealed that while it was "happy news" and her baby was already loved, her journey to impending motherhood had not come easily.

Watch the video above.?

"It hasn't been the easiest journey to get here, which a lot of people I know have gone through, and will go through," Abo said.

"?And I know a lot of our beautiful viewers out there will be feeling this right now as well, because it's not as easy as I suppose sometimes you think pregnancy will be, so it has been a bumpy ride."

After revealing she was almost halfway through her pregnancy and things were "going well", she was again moved to tears when her co-host Karl Stefanovic mentioned that Abo had been "trying for so long" to have a baby ¨C something that was not publicly known until today.

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He paid tribute to the "strength and courage" she had shown throughout her fertility struggles, including two miscarriages, which Abo also revealed for the first time.

"It was this time last year where we had our last pregnancy loss, and there was one obviously before that... and I think that's also why I have been so cautious about sharing this news, which I am obviously so thrilled to be sharing with you all, and you at home," Abo said.

But the journalist admitted that while her news was happy, her past struggles meant it was hard to enjoy her pregnancy.

"I'm still terrified, I think. I'm still finding it hard to believe that it's happening, so I will lean in and enjoy it but I think a lot of people know what it's like to have this cautious optimism," she said.

She also admitted that she and her husband only just told their parents the news, after a recent test gave them the all-clear ¨C and revealed they were having a little boy.

"When you're a 40-year-old woman and pregnant for the first time this far along, it doesn't happen overnight," she said.

"I just want everyone to know that this takes work and effort, and I don't want people out there to think just because you want it, it's going to happen.

"?For those of you who are going through this as well, you are not alone. You might feel like you are but you're absolutely not alone."

?Abo's personal statement no doubt struck a chord with many.

One-in-six women in Australia will experience infertility, which is defined as an inability to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months of trying, while one-in-four will suffer a miscarriage.

I was among them.

It took me four years of trying for a baby before I finally got to hold my much-wanted first child in my arms.

Four years of infertility, repeated miscarriages, gynaecological investigations and procedures, and four years of feeling very, very alone.

?A handful of people knew what I was going through. My husband, of course, my mum, my sister and other close family members and some friends.

Did it make me feel less alone? Not really.

Even those that knew of our struggles often failed to understand ?what we were going through, or if they did, struggled to find the right words.

The unsolicited and unwelcome advice was breathtaking.

"You just need to relax," was a personal favourite.

"Have you tried X,Y, Z?" was another. You can fill the gap with any number of stupid ideas.

"Are you sure?" one person asked me after I was told by my obstetrician that my baby had no heartbeat.

And my personal favourite from one friend, who was also trying to conceive, after they heard the news of my latest pregnancy loss: "Well at least you got further along than me," she said, oblivious to my heartache.

That miscarriage, when I was further along than I had ever been before, almost broke me.

It also made me want to give up on my dream of having children.

No one that hasn't been through infertility can imagine what it is like to lay at night in darkness as tears stream down your face while you wonder if those babies you dreamed of would ever be born.

?That is why it is so important for people like Sarah Abo to tell it how it is.

To reveal the pain and darkness to others going through infertility, not to give them false hope, or promise they too will one day get their happy ever after but, as she said, so they know they are not alone.

I did get my happy ending. Two children who were once only dreams, eventually made it into my arms and my heart.

But I have never forgotten the road it took to get there, which was paved by heartache and loss.

Just as I am sure Sarah will never forget her journey, even once she is holding her sweet baby in her arms.

The Red Nose Grief and Loss Support Line is available 24/7 for anyone affected by the loss of a pregnancy, stillbirth or death of a baby or child on 1300 308 307.

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