Fran Drescher has candidly shared the poignant moment she realized motherhood would elude her. The actress, now 68, reflected on this life-altering revelation during a comprehensive conversation with People magazine, as she revisited her cancer journey from 25 years ago.

Best known for her iconic role in “The Nanny,” Drescher was diagnosed with uterine cancer at the age of 42. This diagnosis brought with it the tough reality that she needed to prioritize her health over the possibility of preserving her fertility through egg freezing.

“At the time, I was in a relationship with a man 16 years younger than me. For the first time, I truly wanted to have a child with someone, but fate had other plans,” Drescher expressed with a sense of longing.

The path to this discovery was fraught with challenges, as multiple misdiagnoses delayed the timely treatment of her cancer, further complicating her situation.

Multiple misdiagnoses delayed her from treating the cancer sooner.

‘I had it for two years, and eight doctors misdiagnosed it,’ she revealed. ‘Next thing I knew, I had a radical hysterectomy, a full cavity wash, and was told I’d never have kids.’

Fran Drescher is opening up about the moment she learned she would never be able to have kids; pictured in December

The former star of The Nanny had been diagnosed with uterine cancer at age 42when she found out that she would have to forgo freezing her eggs in favor of life-saving medical care; pictured in 2023

‘Bada bing. But I don’t really like being told what I can and can’t do, so it was a bitter pill to swallow,’ she added

The New York native also explained that it was unusual for someone like her to have gotten the particular type of cancer she survived. 

‘Uterine cancer typically hits women that are post-menopausal or obese.

‘I was ultimately diagnosed at 42, so if it started around — maybe around 40, maybe earlier — I was not post-menopausal and I was not obese. 

‘So I slipped between the cracks,’ she explained.

The SAG-AFTRA president said she considers herself ‘lucky’ to have received the diagnosis when she did.

‘Mine was in stage one, which means it was resting on the uterine lining but it hadn’t penetrated it, it hadn’t started to dig in, so I was very lucky,’ she told the outlet.

While she was unable to bear children, she reasoned, ‘Instead, I gave birth to a bestselling book about it, formed the organization Cancer Schmancer, [a nonprofit that advocates for early detection and prevention], and became a public diplomacy envoy for the State Department on family health issues.’

The 68-year-old actress recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Peoplemagazine that covered her cancer diagnosis 25 years ago

Drecher pictured in March 1999 at age 41

In 2002 the comedienne published a memoir called Cancer Schmancer

In 2002 the comedienne published a memoir, which she also named Cancer Schmancer.

Drescher explained in 2020 that her diagnosis was linked to a harrowing ordeal she suffered in 1985 — being raped at gunpoint.

Her husband at the time, Peter Jacobson, was also attacked, tied up and forced to witness the sexual assault.

Following the traumatizing event, she threw herself into work and caregiving.

‘It was strange — and kind of poetic — that my reproductive organs, of all things, had cancer,’ she told CNN’s Ana Cabrera six years ago.

‘But it was also an amazing affirmation that pain finds its way to exactly the right place in the body if you don’t deal with it,’ she noted.