Trish Stratus is a groundbreaking professional wrestling superstar. Some powerful women open doors, Stratus kicked them open. She was the youngest woman ever entered into the WWE Hall of Fame, she's starred in movies, lent her voice to video games and made numerous appearances to soldout shows, signings and more.
All these accomplishments should make her a pretty hard figure to forget, but after she stepped out of the wrestling spotlight in the mid-2000s many of her fans, Stratuspherians, found it hard to keep track of her.
She went from being one of the biggest stars, male or female, in the World Wrestling Entertainment's roster, to living the quiet life in her native Canada. Just because she wasn't on TV doesn't mean she wasn't busy.
In 2013, Stratus was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by none other than Stephanie McMahon, daughter of the sports most integral figure Vince McMahon. At the time Stratus was the youngest inductee, being just 37. It was one of her first appearances in months, and she was showing off something even more special than an award: a baby bump!
Her retirement was just beginning, but her real fight was about to begin. Continue to the next page!
Stratus gave birth to her first born later in 2013. Max was a happy and healthy newborn, and has since grown to a happy and healthy little boy. Stratus began to travel less and spend more time with the newest addition.
She and her partner never planned to stop at one, and they began working on their second child in 2014. To this point in her life, everything she wanted to achieve she had, and she expected having a second child to be easy - she was wrong.
"The infertility kind of crept up on us, and we didn't really realize it was a problem until we weren't getting pregnant," Stratus said in an interview with CBC news.
Months went by, and then years. The pair began to seek help.
"It was difficult, it wasn't happening naturally. Eventually the talks led to in vitro fertilization. That's a big pill to swallow," she said. It's not an easy solution either.
Stratus had to undergo months of therapy and treatments, only to be told she was possibly not a candidate for the procedure. It was a serious blow to the superstar, but her determination kept her positive, even as the odds got stacked against her.
In 2017 Stratus made waves, and another big announcement, with a racy photo shoot for Infertility Awareness Week.
"This cover represents my triumph over my struggle with infertility. After suffering a miscarriage and getting a dismal diagnosis about my chances to conceive, I embarked on a journey to take control of my fertility," she wrote on her blog TrishStratus.com.
See her fantastic photo shoot on the next page!
Stratus welcomed her second child, a daughter Madison, to the world earlier this year, and the whole family couldn't be happier. The little girl represents Stratus's biggest fight, and also her biggest triumph.
Her photo shoot represents all of that struggle, and is a rallying cry for other families also struggling.
"I got this call when I was 8.5 months pregnant...I knew I had to do it," she said.
We're thankful she did!
She looks fantastic!
The whole family was clearly excited.
We wish Stratus and her family all the best in the future!