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Cheryl Burke and Matthew Lawrence have been married since 2019. Often, the Dancing with the Stars pro gets asked about starting a family with her actor husband. Now, the seasoned DWTS pro is talking about her plans to freeze her eggs and potentially start having kids in “another year.”

'Dancing with the Stars' pro Cheryl Burke stands with her hands clasped at an event
Cheryl Burke | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for See Us Unite

‘Dancing with the Stars’ pro Cheryl Burke wants kids 

Burke and her husband want to have children. But Burke isn’t sure if this is the right time in her career to do so.

“[Dancing with the Stars is] a huge accomplishment and I am grateful for that experience. But I’m not like these other girls who just had babies and can just bounce back,” Burke said on The Tamron Hall Show in September 2021. “I know my body, but I also, more importantly, know my own mental health and if I have this body image issue that I’m dealing with, again, if this [my head] is not okay I can’t perform.”

Burkes mental health is one thing, but the professional dancer also says age is a factor. “I’m almost 37-years-old,” Burke tells fellow pro Witney Carson on the Pretty Messed Up podcast in the Nov. 9 episode “Jaded! Allenated!” Carson welcomed her son Kevin Leo McAllister on Jan. 3, 2021.

Burke says her body “hurts already without being pregnant.” More than that, she wants to know she’s done competing on Dancing with the Stars before having a baby. 

“I want to know that I’m done with this phase of my life … waiting another year is not going to hurt,” Burke explains to her co-star, adding:

“I do need to freeze my eggs and I’m really nervous about that. [That probably needs to happen] this year, which would mean I have to get off of my birth control, which means I’m a little paranoid about it.”

Cheryl Burke is already planning for the future of her kids

Speaking with fellow DWTS pro Gleb Savchenko on the Pretty Messed Up podcast, Burke shares the plans she already has for her future children. “When I have a kid, if I have a girl especially, I won’t let her ballroom because … there’s a lot of great things about ballroom, but there’s also the fact that you have to grow up so fast,” she revealed. 

Savchenko agreed with his co-star about the closeness required in ballroom dance that forces young people to grow up fast. “It’s the awareness of our bodies,” Burke added. “I was exposed to all these inappropriate behaviors for a little girl to see.”

Retiring from ‘Dancing with the Stars’ might be in her future 

Burke has been talking about the idea of retiring from Dancing with the Stars for a while. “People are asking if I’m retiring,” Burke says in an episode of Pretty Messed Up from November 2020. “It’s not as much about the show or me getting older as much as it is this frustration that AJ [McLean] has mentioned. It’s about is this show still the show I signed up for?” 

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As Burke explained to Elizabeth Vargas on Heart of the Matter in October 2021, she’s still considering retirement. “I’ve been going through personal issues and everything’s been so uncertain,” Burke said. “I’m 37-years-old … but that question mark of just how long can I live as a dancer?” 

Burke and Cody Rigsby are in the semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars Season 30. Another Mirrorball Trophy win could change Burke’s mind about her plans to retire, but only time will tell.

Watch Dancing with the Stars Monday nights at 8PM EST on ABC.

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