She’s won multiple reality television competitions. Performed in some of the biggest musicals across the country. Is gearing up to her own show nationally. Now, Casey Donovan is looking towards her next big chapter: starting a family.
Speaking candidly to news.com.au, the Australian musician, 37, has opened up about her plans to conceive via IVF with her partner of five years, Renee Sharples, 40. “We’ve spoken about it and Renee is now over 40, so she’s gone through and done her retrievals and whatnots,” Casey said.
“And then I was like, well, I need to find some time to get mine out. This has always been an option, and now I’m just starting to action everything because I’m not getting any younger, as the doctors keep telling me.”
It’s been a task juggling the demands of IVF egg retrieval while Casey has been performing as part of the Marcia Sings Summer tour and planning her biggest tour to date, the This Is Me tour. “I’ve been doing the gigs with Marcia Hines,” she explained. “I’ve been working away in the background getting the This Is Me tour released. I took a month off. I’ve done back-to-back IVF egg retrievals. Yeah, it’s been busy.”
At one point, she had to switch her egg retrieval appointment to be able to make a performance at the Sydney Opera House. “The nurse said ‘you might not be able to do the gig.’ I said ‘That’s not an option for me,” Casey recalled.
“But that’s the thing. Life doesn’t slow down for women, or anyone in general. But when you’re trying to calculate IVF, drugs, injections, live music, writing, you just somehow managed to fit it in.
“I was on stage on Friday night after collecting 28 eggs on the Thursday, and going, ‘Oh, that’s a bit sore.’”
Casey also has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can make conceiving more difficult. The couple are yet to plan an egg transfer.
Casey and Renee met on a dating app in 2020 during the pandemic and started dating via Zoom. “When I logged into our first Zoom date and saw that Renee had set it up in a café, it was so sweet… [It was] even better when she asked me what kind of coffee I wanted,’ Casey told Woman’s Day.
“I was nervous and excited to make a connection with Renee, and when we finally connected her banter was great and she seemed very lovely.”
They got engaged in June last year, with Casey sharing the news on Instagram. “On the strawberry moon of the winter solstice the love of my life asked me if I wanted to do this life together forever,” Casey captioned a photo of the couple showing off her stunning diamond ring.
“The day I met you, home was no longer a place it became a person and yes, you are a gypsy but there’s nobody else I would rather attach my wagon to on this beautiful road trip called life’ and with that, I said yes!”
Casey and Renee haven’t set a date yet for their nuptials, and it’s little wonder why considering the This Is Me tour will see Casey perform 50 shows across the country next year from February to November. “As an independent artist doing musical theatre as well, this tour is where I can just go out and sing and be me,” she told news.com.au.
“Is this crazy, doing this? No, because I’ve been doing eight shows a week for four and a half years!”
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