July 9, 2025
SEOUL – Actor Lee Si-young, 43, revealed that she is currently pregnant with an embryo created with her ex-husband through in vitro fertilization, despite his lack of consent.
“I wanted to share this news myself to prevent misunderstandings or speculation later on,” she wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.
Lee explained that she and her ex-husband had been preparing for a second child through IVF during their marriage. However, time passed without proceeding with embryo implantation and the couple began discussing divorce.
By the time their legal separation was being finalized, the five-year storage period for their frozen embryos was nearing its end.
Faced with the decision to either discard the embryos or move forward with implantation, Lee said she chose the latter.
“Although my ex-husband did not agree with the decision, I have decided to take full responsibility for the choice I made,” she wrote. “I just couldn’t bring myself to discard an embryo that had been waiting all this time.”
In her Instagram post, she also acknowledged the challenges that may lie ahead, saying, “I’ve thought deeply about all the possible consequences. But even so, I believe this choice is the right one.”
Lee Si-young married a businessperson in 2017 and gave birth to their first son in 2018. She announced their divorce in March.
