In the latest episode of her “Hard Feelings” podcast, Jennette McCurdy shared a personal anecdote about facing a pregnancy scare during her struggle with adult acne. The former “iCarly” star recounted the incident, revealing that she underwent multiple blood tests to qualify for a prescription of Accutane, a potent acne prevention medication.
However, there’s a catch – Accutane is associated with a risk of birth defects, affecting up to 35 per cent of infants exposed to it during pregnancy, as highlighted by the National Institute of Health. Consequently, McCurdy found herself in the routine of monthly pregnancy tests, a precautionary measure advised by her doctors.
Jennette McCurdy had a pregnancy scare
The Nickelodeon alum said that she took Accutane for a “couple months” a “few years ago.” She even revealed to had signed a contract pledging not to get pregnant while on the medication. Despite using “two forms of contraception,” things got tense McCurdy went for a blood test on the third month. This came after the actress, 31, visited her “depressing” dermatologist’s office.
“I go, ‘I can’t make it. Like, can I just come in next week?’ And she goes, ‘No, because we got the results of your bloodwork, and there’s a pregnancy,’” she recounted. This piece of information left McCurdy “shocked” and felt like she “got the wind knocked out” of her.
“My head was spinning. I was so dizzy. I involuntarily sat on the edge of my bed,” she went on. “My body just fell on the edge of my bed, and I was like, ‘What, what?’ I just felt cotton-mouthed — even now repeating it, my heart is pounding. It was so terrifying.”
McCurdy then began “recounting recent sexual activities” and “replaying everything” wondering, “How did this happen?” while on her way to the doctor’s office. “I’m in the back seat of an Uber, dizzy the entire way, feeling like I’m gonna pass out or throw up or both, like awful, awful, terrible,” she stated.
Her blood test came out a false positive
Upon McCurdy’s arrival at the office, her doctor asked her if there was “a chance you could be pregnant” which left the child actor confused as she was previously told “there was a pregnancy.”
“What do you mean ‘Is there a chance?’ It sounds like you know there’s not just a chance, but there’s a certainty. Like, you called me here, you said I was pregnant, and she’s like, ‘Well, sometimes there can be false pregnancies that come up on these because of your hormonal levels,’” she recalled the incident.
While taking another blood test, McCurdy felt both “terrified” and a “little flicker of hope.” The test turned out to be a false positive. “I am not pregnant, and it is fine, but that experience was so terrifying that I was like, ‘I gotta get off this s–t. Like, this is not for me,’” she added.
McCurdy does not want kids
The former “Sam & Cat” star has been candid about her thoughts on motherhood, expressing that she “cannot imagine a world in which someday I want kids.” However, she’s also open to the idea of freezing her eggs. “I do not feel in any way, shape, or form like I want kids,” she shared on her recent podcast episode.