Olivia Munn recalls John Mulaney’s support before the birth of second child

Olivia Munn opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis and her fertility journey while speaking on a panel during Hello Sunshine’s Shine Away event hosted by AT&T on Saturday, October 5, in Los Angeles.

Us weekly was present as Munn, 44, detailed her decision to freeze her eggs multiple times throughout her 30s and 40s – including a recent attempt to secure girl embryos. The actress admitted that she really wanted to have a daughter with her comedian husband John Mulaneyafter naturally conceiving her son Malcolm in November 2021.

“I said to John, ‘I’m not going to feel good until we have two more.’ [embryos that are girls] So you just have to be on my side and let me go through this. And I know I’m putting myself at risk, but I just have to do this,” Munn explained as she froze her eggs again at age 42 during her battle with cancer. “And he said, ‘I’ll support anything you want to do.’ When we got home that day, the doctor said, “I got the results back and it’s the dream.” “You have two healthy little girl embryos.” And now we have Méi.”

Munn and Mulaney, 42, welcomed their daughter Méi June via surrogate on September 14.

Related: Olivia Munn’s breast cancer journey in her own words

Olivia Munn initially chose to keep her breast cancer diagnosis a secret, but since embarking on her journey, she has revealed many telling details. “To be proactive about my health, I took a genetic test in February 2023 that screens for 90 different cancer genes,” Munn wrote via Instagram […]

“I felt so deeply about not being able to carry my daughter,” Munn wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her and Mulaney with Méi. “When I first met our surrogate, we spoke mother to mother. She showed me so much grace and understanding that I knew I had found a real angel. Words cannot express my gratitude for protecting our baby for nine months and making our dreams come true.”

During the Hello Sunshine event, Munn was joined on stage by her doctor. Thais Aliabadiand The Home Edit’s Sure Shearerwho also shared their personal experiences with breast cancer during the “Be Your Own Best Advocate” panel.

“Clea was the second call I made [after the diagnosis]because I knew she had been through it,” Munn said. “She was sitting in a taxi in New York and said, ‘What’s wrong?’ I told her, ‘I have breast cancer.’ Tell me what’s going to happen to me.’ She was very clear and direct, and because she was able to speak up and knew about it, it helped me a lot. Not only does it save lives, it protects your sanity.”

Shearer announced that she had breast cancer in a poignant Instagram post in 2022 and continued to share her story with followers and fans. Munn shared her own diagnosis on the platform in March.

“Some people commented this on my IG post… ‘Welcome to the worst club with the best members.’ “It really made me feel good because everyone has been affected by cancer in different forms and it was incredibly healing to talk about it,” Munn said.

“Keeping it private for a long time, and keeping the people I love private as well, may have made us all a little sick in our own ways,” she added. “My husband kept saying, ‘God, you were going through cancer and you didn’t know it.’ What would have happened if we hadn’t done it now, just like your mammogram wasn’t scheduled every year? Speaking up has been incredibly healing and every time we meet someone it means a lot to us. It changes your entire focus.”

Now completely in tune with her body, Munn admits she’s learned to be “kinder” to herself after experiencing such a scary situation.

“I didn’t think I realized how hard I was on myself,” she said during the panel. “I made a lot of mistakes in my life, did a lot of stupid things when I was younger, or said stupid things, or missed opportunities that were great… I was hard on myself and didn’t forgive myself much.” And when that happened, I dropped all the luggage. I was on the verge of fighting for my life and I no longer had the energy to hold on. I had to let it go. That was such freedom. I’m kinder to myself now.”

Related: Olivia Munn and John Mulaney’s relationship timeline

John Mulaney and Olivia Munn kicked their romance into high gear after he split from his wife of six years, Anna Marie Tendler, in May 2021. When it was announced that Mulaney and Tendler had broken up, Us Weekly confirmed that the comedian had moved on with Munn. Mulaney and Munn were photographed in one […]

In an Oct. 3 Instagram post, Munn highlighted Breast Cancer Awareness Month and thanked Aliabadi for putting her on the “path to survival.”

“This time last year I was recovering from my fourth surgery,” she wrote alongside a photo of her and Méi, “and now I’m hanging out with my little daughter.” 🥹💕.”

“Every time a doctor says, ‘This is nothing to worry about,’ you tell yourself that proving your doctor wrong is not winning,” Munn said at Saturday’s event. “No, you don’t win. Nobody wins against cancer if you ignore it. Cancer wants you to act as if it isn’t there. Cancer wants you to be naive. Cancer wants you to listen to your doctor who says it’s nothing. Cancer wants you to ignore it so it can grow freely wherever it wants in your body. So if you have an instinct, follow it. Take action against your doctor. Your doctor is there for you. If that’s what you want to achieve, then get it done. And by the way, if you’re wrong, who cares? Because if you’re right, it will save your life.”

With reporting by Mike Vulpo