Gabrielle Union speaks candidly about her battle to conceive

42 year old actress Gabrielle Union has a lot going on in her life, with a career that's going strong and a marriage to her basketball player Husband- Dwayne Wade, that keeps her smiling. And while she doesn't yet have children of her own, she believes it's important that she and other women don't feel guilty about that. And they shouldn't give up.

"If you happen to have issues with fertility as you've gotten older and you happen to have a career, all is not lost," she explained during a Monday morning visit to TODAY. "There is so much hope, there are so many options."

In an interview with Redbook last month, Union, who's married to NBA star Dwyane Wade, said, "So far, it has not happened for us. A lot of my friends deal with struggles to have a baby. There's a certain amount of shame that is placed on women who have perhaps chosen a career over starting a family younger."

But on TODAY, Union stressed how important it is not to feel that shame.

"Fertility is an issue, period," she said, speaking for women in general, rather than herself. "Having a career is not the price you pay for any ill."

'I was actually not talking about IVF for me personally, but more of just in general,' Gabrielle responded. 

'Most of my friends who have done IVF aren't women in their 40's - women in their 20's and 30's.'

"I think TV shows and films kind of make out that the frigid, single-focused career woman, that her career is the root of all problems in her life," she said. 'Can't find a man, it's the career. Marriage falls apart, it's the career!...and that's just not the case.' 

Union is stepmother to her Husband- Dwayne Wade's three children.