ABOUT MARY COUSTAS
Imagine being the face of comedy. Being identified as the comedic character you portray, an expectation of humour and wit preceding you everywhere you go. Imagine having to keep up this persona, whilst desperately trying to fall pregnant, enduring cycle after cycle after cycle of IVF. But mostly, how do you return to the work that has brought you so much success, so much opportunity and has been who you are for so long…after you’ve lost a baby?
Writer, performer and comedian Mary Coustas, best known for her performance in Wogs Out of Work and for her beloved character Effie, had to do just that.
Six weeks after marrying the love of her life George, Mary was told her fallopian tubes were blocked and she would need IVF to conceive. Over the following 10 years, Mary did 23 rounds of IVF, eight of those in Greece using donor eggs. One cycle ended in miscarriage, and one saw her become pregnant with triplets, until she had to make the seemingly impossible decision to abort two of the babies in the hope of saving the third. Devastatingly that baby girl, Stevie, was still born at 22 weeks.
On their 23rd IVF attempt, Mary (then aged 49) and George became pregnant again and this time gave birth to a healthy girl called Jamie, who is now 3 years old. She is now revelling in being a mum to Jamie, cherishing every precious moment while also juggling her return to the theatre with her shows A Date With Effie and Effie the Virgin Bride.
OUR PROUD PARTNERS
GETTING THERE
The Centennial Homestead
1 Grand Drive, Centennial Parklands, Sydney.
Tel: 02 9380 9350
Enter Centennial Parklands either via Robertson Gates off Lang Road, or Darley Road off Alison Road.
Free on-site parking at the venue for guests.