Rod Stewart Penny Lancaster Thank IVF For New Baby Boy

Rocker Rod Stewart and wife Penny Lancaster are having another baby boy — thanks to a rigorous round of in-vitro fertilization.

The couple – who already have a four-year-old son, Alastair — recently announced that they are expecting their second child but the road toward conception was anything but easy. After trying unsuccessfully for two years, they decided to seek help from fertility experts.

After speaking to doctors, Penny cut fish out of her diet after being told she had very high levels of mercury in her body and after a third attempt of IVF, she conceived.

“A homeopathic doctor told me my mercury levels were really high, off the scale. I do love fish, and I thought it was healthy without understanding the high mercury levels that fish like tuna, swordfish and halibut can contain,” says Penny.

“My doctor said it was unhealthy to have so much mercury in my body, and also for conceiving babies. After two months of not eating fish, my mercury levels dropped by half, which is scary – I had no idea what the fish had been doing to my body. I had a scan and, although it was quite early on, the doctor said he was 99 per cent certain it was a boy. You should have seen Alastair’s face when he found out he was most likely having a brother. It’s exactly what he wanted and his happiness made all the IVF treatments worthwhile.”

Penny – who married Rod in 2007 – says she was desperate to have another child after hearing Alastair’s pleas for a baby brother or sister.

“Rod and I felt blessed already with Alastair but he’s always talked about his friends who had sisters or brothers. He’d return from play dates with my brother’s kids and say, ‘It’s not fair, they’ve got each other and I have no one.’ He has got siblings from Rod’s previous relationships, but they’re much older. The youngest, Liam, has just turned 16 but he’s six foot tall!” the 39 -year-old model told Britain’s Hello! Magazine last week.

“Alastair really wanted a little companion and always said he wanted a baby. I’d tell him it takes three things – Mummy, Daddy and God – and that maybe God thinks we’re so lucky to have him that he wants to give babies to other people who don’t have children. I said we were trying and praying and putting in as much effort as possible to give him a brother or sister.”

Rod – who has seven other children from previous relationships – admitted the process was quite stressful but they were determined to conceive.

The 65-year-old “Maggie May” rocker said: “IVF can be stressful, especially for the woman with all the hormone injections and procedures. I said to Penny, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll just keep trying.’”

Rod says the new baby will be his last.

“I’m very happy but it will be the last. I can’t have any more kids, otherwise I’ll be touring until I’m 90.”

Rod’s other children are Kimberley, 30, and Sean, 29, with his first wife Alana Hamilton. He also has Ruby, 23, by model Kelly Emberg and Renee, 18, and Liam, 16, by his second wife — model Rachel Hunter. His eldest daughter, Sarah, 46, was born when Rod was only 19. She was adopted at age 4.