Back in 2024, actress Olivia Munn publicly shared that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Munn is now in remission and recently joined Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, where she spoke about her recovery and encouraged more women to seek care that could potentially help catch cancer early, or even prevent its spread. 

The cancer also left Munn with the reality that she wouldn't be able to carry another child. Munn became pregnant with her and actor/comedian John Mulaney’s son Malcolm in 2021; her daughter Méi would be born via surrogate in 2024. It's something Welker can also identify with.

"I know from my personal experience that battling infertility can be isolating, and I hope anyone going through their own infertility journey can hear my conversation with Olivia Munn and feel hopeful and less alone," Welker tells Parents. "I am so grateful to Olivia for sharing her battle with breast cancer and experience with surrogacy, and I’m confident her powerful message on getting a cancer risk assessment will save lives.”

Munn’s diagnosis and subsequent recovery from cancer had far-reaching consequences in her life. The actress had five surgeries in 10 months, which sent her into surgical menopause. 

In the aftermath, her doctor discouraged her from trying to carry another pregnancy. She was also taking a drug called Lupron, to suppress her hormones, one side effect of which is debilitating exhaustion. 

It was her son Malcolm who led her to the revelation about her future health. Malcolm would come into her room asking to play, but all she could do was lie in bed with him and watch shows on his iPad. 

Ultimately, she also decided to have a hysterectomy, a decision that she called “devastating” because she “loved being pregnant.” At the same time, she also knew, “It was a necessity for me to be there for my child, and to be up and happy and have the energy.”

At the same time, she and her husband didn’t feel that their family was complete. Munn feared that she wouldn’t be able to find a surrogate, but her treatment left with no other option. 

“If we wanted to have her in the world, which we desperately did, then this was going to be my option. And I would not let my concerns and my worries stop my daughter from having a chance to be in this world. Like, that's what I have to do as a mother is to be selfless and to put my children first, and that was the first step-was putting my fear aside,” she said. 

She and Mulaney ended up having a strong bond with her surrogate and her family, in part because they picked someone who specifically wanted to help a couple dealing with cancer. Right after her daughter was born, the first thing she did was give her surrogate a hug and check in on her. She felt an “an outpouring of gratitude,” after the birth. 

“John, the first thing he does is grab the husband and give him a big kiss on the cheek,” Munn recalls. “He doesn't even turn to me, he's just so excited he grabs the husband. And the husband's crying, and we're all just, like, crying.”

It was only when Munn decided to pursue a surrogate for her second child that she found out that certain people find the practice controversial, and she took the opportunity during her conversation with Welker to help dispel some of the myths 

“I would just like people to know that there are so many people who find this to be a calling for themselves, and love being pregnant, and really want to give this gift to another couple…I'd like people to understand that they really don't understand the reasons, and the morals, and the life choices that somebody else is making that has nothing to do with you,” she told Welker. “This baby was in the world because this couple was so generous with their life, to give life to our daughter.”

The actress reveals that in the wake of her pregnancy, she suffered from postpartum anxiety which called a “painful,” and “lonely” experience.

In a time when sleepless nights were simply part of the routine, anxiety kept her from sleeping for even longer stretches—especially in the dip in hormones that happened after she decided to stop breastfeeding and switch to formula. 

“I have so much love and compassion for women who are dealing with postpartum, because there isn't enough understanding out there,” she explains. “There's such a judgment on women who are going through this and some of the extreme things that they end up doing. It is sometimes, and a lot of times, out of our control.”

Munn, who is currently starring alongside Jon Hamm in Your Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV+, has been particularly transparent about how her experience as a cancer survivor has influenced how she approaches motherhood.

Munn tells Welker that it wasn’t until she was scrolling through photos of her and Malcolm that she realized she wanted to speak publicly about her diagnosis in order to encourage other women to be proactive about their health care.  

“I saw this one of him and I playing in the front yard. And I thought, 'Oh my gosh. Like, I had cancer then and I didn't know it at all.' And how many other women are out there right now with a clear mammogram, clear ultrasound, walking around, and they don't know about this lifetime risk assessment test?”

It’s this free online assessment that Munn told Welker, “100% saved my life.” Now, it’s become her “mission,” as she calls it, to spread awareness about the test. 

“I wanted to get into every woman's consciousness, that from then on for the rest of their lives, and that their children do it. [When] their daughters or nieces or granddaughters go to get their pap smear, they also talk to the doctor about their lifetime risk assessment score,” she says. 

These days, Munn’s “purpose list,” is short but profound. She wants to be “a great mother, a great wife, a great sister and friend, and to help as many women in the world know about the lifetime risk assessment test." And it's still her children who are her greatest motivator and force for good in her life.

After her doctor told her that she had cancer, she was, of course, shocked and afraid, but she also knew she wanted—she had—to live.

“I just couldn't stomach the idea of [Malcolm] not having me in his life. And much as his dad would be there to take care of him, and as much love would be in his life,” she told Welker, “I just was like, "No, I'm going to be here, and you're going to have an amazing life, and I'm going to be here, and I'm going to have an amazing life." And he was just everything that I needed to forge through.”