Bravo fans will recognize Leva Bonaparte as a savvy entrepreneur, tough boss, and a very chic member of Southern Charm. She also showcases one of her clubs, Republic, and its staff on the Charm spinoff, Southern Hospitality.
What is less visible is her role as a mother to “Little” Lamar Jr. with husband, Lamar Bonaparte. But, it’s the most important one of her life. At the Southern Charm Season 9, Leva spoke of her love of motherhood. She said giving her son a bath every night is something she really looks forward to.
Now, in a recent interview, the restaurant owner revealed another aspect about raising her child.
Fertility struggles “had an effect” on Leva’s “outlook” when it comes to her son
The self-proclaimed “smotherer” told People that struggles to conceive directly influenced her parenting decisions.
“My parenting style can really be traced back to my struggles with infertility because it really had an effect on my outlook on how I wanted to raise my child,” Leva explained. “I don’t think I’d be the type of mother I am today had I not gone through that.”
“I had five years of undiagnosed infertility — just poking, prodding, poking, prodding,” she said. “It was horrible. And there were times I worried it would never happen. I struggled for many, many years.”
Leva found herself emotional when friends got pregnant. She struggled to support them.
“It got to the point where it was hard to be around my circle of friends because they were all having kids and every time someone would say, ‘Oh, I accidentally got pregnant,’ I would want to burst into tears,” she revealed. “And then there was this stage of my friends hiding their pregnancies from me because they were so worried about me being upset. Which was then followed by the stage of, ‘Oh, we can’t ask Leva to host the shower because we know she can’t get pregnant.’ And it just got so awkward.”
After a consultation with a recommended doctor, Leva underwent Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) or “artificial insemination.”
“That wound up being what helped me conceive,” she stated. “That’s how Little was born.”
Despite the success of the procedure, Leva felt dehumanized in the process. And it was just, frankly, difficult. Leva discussed the side effects she experienced.
“There’s a lot that people don’t talk about,” she continued. “You’re basically being treated like a turkey, and then you’re blasted with all sorts of hormones and drugs — coming off of which are hard.”
“Your body’s so out of whack after being through all the testing and the ‘Clomid crazies,’ which are the side effects you get from the medication used to treat infertility [such as insomnia, irritability, mood swings, and PMS-like cravings]. And because no one tells you about it, you can feel nuts. Like, ‘What is happening to me?'”
As a result of the struggles, Leva’s now “very present” when it comes to her son.
“From the minute he was born, I just wanted to soak it all up and keep it all,” Leva said. “He didn’t even go to preschool, you know what I mean? Because I just wanted to savor all of it and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll even get it again.'”
Leva chooses gratitude on her most difficult days. “So in the sense, I feel like my infertility issues and the struggles I went through to have Little were a little bit of a blessing in disguise because I never took anything for granted,” she adds. “The worst days, the hardest days. I was just like, ‘I’m just so glad this little guy’s here.'”
Southern Hospitality continues Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF LEVA’S DECISION TO KEEP LAMAR OUT OF PRE-SCHOOL? DO ANY OF HER COMMENTS RESONATE WITH YOU?
