Who is Georgie Winter? Tara Lipinski Welcomes Baby Girl via Surrogate After Years of Infertility
Tara Lipinski, the Olympic gold medalist figure skater, has welcomed a baby girl named Georgie Winter, with her husband Todd Kapostasy. The couple announced the happy news on TODAY, revealing that their daughter was born via a surrogate after a five-year struggle with infertility.
Tara Lipinski’s Journey to Motherhood
Lipinski, 41, who is also a sportscaster for NBC and a documentary film producer, opened up about her heartbreaking journey to becoming a mom on her podcast Unexpecting, which she launched in August with her husband. She shared that she had faced multiple miscarriages, four D&C procedures (a surgical method to remove pregnancy tissue from the uterus), and a diagnosis of endometriosis (a condition where the tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside of it).
She also learned that she had a reproductive immunology issue, where her body would reject their fertilized embryo. “It made me realize that sometimes life is just not fair,” she said on TODAY. “For so long I thought, ‘Oh, you get a win, you get a loss, everything evens out.’ As a skater I was able to train harder, force it. But when it came to infertility, there’s things you can’t change.”
After her last miscarriage, Lipinski decided to explore other options and found a surrogate named Mikayla, who agreed to carry their baby. Lipinski said she felt an instant connection with Mikayla and was grateful for her generosity. “She’s just this incredible human being who wanted to help us,” she said.
Lipinski was in the delivery room when Georgie was born and described the moment as surreal and emotional. “My doctor had me playing my favorite song and I’m bawling because I think there was just so much relief of, ‘Is this five-year journey over?’ And then immediately, the baby is out, screaming, and on my chest and we’re doing skin-to-skin and it was one of those moments like, ‘How did my life just change so quickly and is this a dream? Because it feels like it.’”
Tara Lipinski’s Joy of Being a Mom
Lipinski said she has been enjoying every moment of motherhood, even the sleepless nights and the crying. “I dreamt about this for so long,” she said. “I feel so much gratitude — it just didn’t happen for so long — and we’re just very, very lucky that this happened for us.”
She also said that Georgie is a calm and peaceful baby who looks like her dad. “She has his nose and his lips and his eyes,” she said. “She’s just perfect.”
Lipinski said she wants Georgie to know how much she was wanted and loved by her parents. “I just want her to know that she was so wanted,” she said. “That Todd and I thought about her for five years and that we can’t wait to hopefully be the best parents to her and give her a beautiful life.”
Lipinski also expressed her empathy for other people who are going through infertility and said that sharing her story on her podcast has helped her connect with them. “I deal with this feeling of, a little guilt for all the people still in that wait, still hearing this news and thinking what I thought for those five years of, ‘When is it going to be my time?’ (and) ‘Why me?’” she said. “But I also have now connected with this entire community, which is by far the most meaningful thing I’ve ever been able to be a part of.”
Achievements as a figure skater
Lipinski is best known for winning the gold medal in ladies’ singles at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, at the age of 15. She became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in figure skating history and the youngest individual gold medalist in any winter sport.
She also won the 1997 World Championships and the 1997 U.S. Championships, among other titles. She turned professional in 1998 and performed in various ice shows and tours. She retired from competitive skating in 2002 due to chronic hip problems.
Since then, she has pursued a career in broadcasting and filmmaking. She has been a commentator for NBC Sports Group since 2006, covering figure skating events such as the Olympics, the World Championships, and the Grand Prix series. She has also co-hosted various shows on NBC and NBCSN, such as First Look Tokyo and The Podium.
She has also appeared as an actress in several TV shows and movies, such as Malcolm in the Middle, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Vanilla Sky, Blades of Glory, and Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.
She has also produced several documentary films, such as The Courage to Soar, which tells the story of Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history; and In the Fire, which is a thriller set in the 19th century.
She has also written two books, Totally Tara: An Olympic Journey and Triumph on Ice.
She has been inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She has also received numerous awards and honors, such as the James E. Sullivan Award, the Women’s Sports Foundation Flo Hyman Award, and the Thurman Munson Award.
She married Todd Kapostasy, a sports producer and director, in 2017. They live in Los Angeles with their daughter Georgie and their dogs Dublin and Penelope.
