Molly Brown spent years desperately trying to have a baby. She endured eight miscarriages, two rounds of fertility hormone treatments and the crushing despair that would come with countless negative pregnancy tests.
Brown, 43, and her husband Zach Hosny, 34, of Reno, Nevada, had followed a vegetarian and vegan diet for years, swapping out lean beef and pork for legumes and grains. But Brown, holding on to hope that her fertility misfortune could change, decided to ditch her plant-based nutrition and begin eating a mostly carnivorous diet.
Brown said: ‘I was vegetarian and vegan for 10 years because of IBS – I thought meat wouldn’t digest well – and because it’s hard to get clean meat at the grocery store.
‘After listening to some of those podcasts about being carnivore, I thought “I’ve tried everything else, let’s try something in that direction.”’
A normal day of food in Brown’s new regimen included three eggs with butter and bacon for breakfast, ground beef stir-fry for lunch, and steak with butter and vegetables for dinner.
Mere months after re-integrating meat into her diet, Brown became pregnant naturally with twins in 2025. When she became pregnant, she was ‘cautiously optimistic’ after experiencing so much loss, but she and Hosny welcomed twin boys Zander and Ryder into the world in December.
Animal proteins provide an array of nutrients that are vital for reproductive and fetal health and development. Foods like eggs, grass-fed beef, wild-caught salmon and organ meats are packed with fertility boosters, including vitamin B12 for egg quality, iron to keep women’s cycles regular, zinc for hormone balance and choline for baby’s brain development.
Brown said: ‘I can’t say this [eating meat] is exactly what helped me – I’m not a scientist or a doctor – but I think it did.’
After years of infertility struggles, including eight miscarriages and multiple rounds of hormone treatment, Molly Brown made a pivotal change. The former vegan reintroduced meat into her diet. Within months, she became pregnant naturally with twin boys
Zander and Ryder were born in December 2025. She became pregnant just a few months after she began to integrate meat into her diet
After years on a vegetarian diet, she introduced high-quality animal products like eggs, butter and collagen into her meals in early 2025. While she still ate vegetables, animal-based proteins were the highlight of every meal.
She credited the increased intake of essential nutrients and healthy fats for making a significant difference in her reproductive health, which declines as a woman ages.
Although pregnancy at 43 is still possible, the likelihood of a natural conception resulting in a healthy birth is very low, roughly two percent or less each month when accounting for the heightened risk of miscarriage.
Brown said: ‘After eight miscarriages and conceiving these babies naturally at the age of 43, I feel like they are supposed to be on earth with us.’
Her pregnancy, however, was marked by severe complications.
At 17 weeks, she learned that her babies were suffering from Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), a rare pregnancy complication occurring in twins who share a placenta.
The imbalance deprives one twin of the nutrients it needs while providing an excess of nutrients to the other twin.
When it was discovered, Brown was rushed to surgery, where doctors performed a life-saving laser procedure inside the womb to seal off the abnormal blood vessels and correct the dangerous imbalance.
She had weekly check-ups through the end of her pregnancy when, at eight months, she delivered her twins by C-section. Twins are commonly born at roughly eight months, which is roughly 32 to 36 weeks gestation. The 37-week mark is the goalpost for twins.
Her pregnancy was marked by severe complications. At 17 weeks, she learned her twins had Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), a rare condition affecting twins who share a placenta
At birth, Zander was 4.5 pounds and Ryder was 2.5 pounds. The twins required a couple of weeks in the NICU to gain weight but were in good health
Brown said: ‘It was pretty intense, after a pretty intense pregnancy, but they were both born healthy.
‘Zander was 4.5lbs and Ryder was 2.5lbs. Both of them had to be in the NICU for a couple of weeks to gain weight, but were otherwise strong and healthy.’
She added: ‘They are both sweet boys. I love being their mother.
‘I feel very lucky I was able to get pregnant and have twins and go through this experience, even though it’s been hard. It feels like a really big blessing.’
While carnivore social media influencers tout the benefits of an all-meat diet, doctors have long warned of eating too much red meat, butter and other animal-based foods high in fat, citing documented risks to heart health and ties to increased heart attacks.
But the federal government recently inverted the food pyramid, placing meat and animal-based proteins where whole grains previously were.
Whether these guidelines will change how American adults eat is an open question. Previous versions promoting fruit and vegetable intake have largely been overlooked.
The modern, nuanced advice for mothers-to-be is to choose high-quality meat, cook it thoroughly, and enjoy it in balance as part of a varied diet, prioritizing lean cuts.
