Casey Donovan and her partner Renee Sharples have announced they are expecting a baby through IVF; the due date is February 2027.
Last year, Casey shared that she was balancing IVF appointments with her very busy touring career.
Less than a year after she shared that story, Casey and her partner Renee have announced the happy news that they are expecting.
“After extensive research, clinical assessment and absolutely no musical rehearsal… Baby arriving February 2027,” their social media post read.
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In April, Casey shared they had undergone their first embryo transfer at a fertility clinic.
This baby announcement is brilliant news for Casey, who was told as a teen she may not be able to carry children.
“I’ve been told since I was a young girl that falling pregnant was going to be a massive issue or if it would ever happen at all,” Casey told The Daily Telegraph.
“So I went into this going, ‘It’s not going to work, nothing’s going to’. I was told it may be difficult to conceive a child, hold a child and, yeah, give birth. I still don’t believe it.”
Casey was diagnosed as a teenager with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome.
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‘It doesn’t feel real yet’
Except for family and close friends, the couple kept the news a secret from everyone until going public Saturday morning.
Casey was always going to be the one carrying the baby and is coming up to 22 weeks pregnant.
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Renee said. “I think once it is here, then yeah, it’ll sink in.
“You’ve [Casey] done amazing; you haven’t slowed down in terms of work, and you’re still doing this national tour; most people don’t know. I think that’s the way we’ve approached this whole thing, and we’ve always said, whatever’s meant for us will happen.”
“I guess we probably didn’t expect it to happen as soon as it did.”
Their first round of IVF didn’t take. And now that she is pregnant, Casey said she still had fears.
“We’re still in this world of going, ‘Is it real?’, she said. “And then every time we’re going for a scan, I have these moments of stress and panic because I’m like, ‘I’ve never been through this before, I’ve never felt anything like this before.’
“With my pain tolerance, I’m like, ‘Is there anything in there?’ And then we get in there, and they do the ultrasound and there it is just bopping away and flipping and kicking and throwing its arms and all the things.”
‘Life doesn’t slow down for women’
The couple have been together since 2020; they announced their engagement in June 2024.
In November 2025, Casey shared that in between gigs with Marcia Hines, she was also undergoing IVF treatment.
“I’ve done back-to-back IVF egg retrievals. Yeah, it’s been busy,” she told news.com.au. “We’ve spoken about [starting a family] and Renee is now over 40, so she’s gone through and done her retrievals and whatnots, I was like, well, I need to find some time to get mine out.”
“This has always been an option, and now I’m just starting to action everything because I’m not getting any younger, as the doctors keep telling me.:
Casey recalled a few weeks ago a clash between an IVF appointment in Melbourne and a gig at the Sydney Opera House.
“The nurse said, ‘You might not be able to do the gig.’ I said, ‘That’s not an option for me,’” she said.
“Life doesn’t slow down for women, or anyone in general. But when you’re trying to calculate IVF, drugs, injections, live music, writing, you just somehow manage to fit it in. I was on stage on Friday night after collecting 28 eggs on the Thursday, and going, ‘Oh, that’s a bit sore.’”
The show must go on
Casey is currently at the end of a 50-date run of national shows performing her This Is Me tour, finishing in Melbourne in November.
“I had to ask my obstetrician if I can still lift my tour bags because I’ve got heavy suitcases of merch,” Casey said.
“My band members are like, ‘No, Casey, leave it, we’ve got it’, and Renee is like, ‘Babe, put it down.’ Life hasn’t slowed down, and I hope that I’ll get a few moments to just go (breathe).”
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Casey suspected she might be pregnant after a gig at Melbourne’s Clocktower Centre and did a home pregnancy test after the show.
“It was hands down the best my voice had ever felt and sounded, and I had this inkling, because we were within the two-week wait,” Casey said.
“I couldn’t put my finger on it; even the band mentioned it felt special. We were shocked when we did the test. It was every emotion possible – shock, nervous, stressed, excited – all in one.”
Renee said they are hoping to one day become a family of four. But for now, they are just glad their child is “happy and healthy”.
Congratulations, Casey and Renee.
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