The Reids always knew they wanted kids and the timing never seemed more right to start the process than late last year. After a troubling 2022 season that saw her miss more than a handful of cuts while dealing with a lingering wrist injury, Mel decided to take medical leave in September, a decision that ultimately led to her stepping away from the game for a bit.

“I legit quit. When I got my injury, I tried to play through it, which I kind of felt I had to because I was losing my card,” Mel told the media after the second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “In September I literally told Carly, I'm going into media, like I'm going to be one of you guys, I'm not playing golf anymore.”

And it was that unexpected time off at the end of the year that played a major factor in the couple’s decision to begin the reciprocal IVF process.

“We've both always had a strong desire to have a family. I most definitely did not want to push out a baby, so it was cool that Carly wanted to take on that role. She feels very strongly emotionally (about) that. She's always wanted to carry,” said Mel. “We had a consultation a couple of years ago, and because we had that extra time this winter, we were like, why don't we just crack on? We wanted to get the process going because with reciprocal IVF, a lot of things can potentially go wrong and so we wanted to have a bit of time to prepare for that. But fortunately for us, everything's gone smooth.”

Carly was grateful to have her wife at home and by her side, emotionally supporting her through what can be a challenging undertaking, both physically and mentally. “Mel getting hurt and taking that much time off was kind of a blessing because it would have been a lot more difficult to go through that if she was on the road,” she said. “You have doctor's appointments almost weekly at the start, so it's pretty demanding. But we just could do that, literally stress-free. Didn't have to plan around travel at all. And it worked the first time so we're very lucky.”

They announced their pregnancy publicly via Instagram on May 2 and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive as many of the couple’s friends and family were delighted to hear the news. Carly told her family when she was nearing the end of her first trimester, and the first person Mel called was her father Brian, who now checks in more than ever before on his daughter and daughter-in-law.

Mel and Carly Reid Ready for Next Chapter as Parents

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