Aspyn Ovard reveals how daughter's terminal cancer diagnosis impacted her marriage to Parker Ferris: ‘We weren't going to make it’

Reality star and YouTuber Aspyn Ovard revealed on television for the first time that one of her three daughters has been fighting terminal cancer for more than three years, sharing the heartbreaking news for the first time on television. In the premiere of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County, the 30-year-old opened up about the family’s health crisis, sharing the shock of the diagnosis and the ongoing uncertainty.

Ovard became emotional as she recalled how quickly her daughter’s health situation changed. “Everything happened so out of nowhere,” she said during a confessional. “One day she was OK and the next day she wasn’t.”

Doctors' devastating diagnosis echoes Aspyn Ovard

Speaking about the moment she and her former husband, Parker Ferris, learned about their daughter's condition, Ovard said they initially believed everything would be fine.


“At the hospital, we were like, ‘It has to be fine,’” she recalled. “You can’t fathom they’re actually gonna tell you that your baby has cancer, and that it’s terminal and she could be gone in a month.”

The influencer said the family has been living with the possibility of losing their daughter for more than three years. She did not disclose which of her three children has cancer or reveal the specific type of diagnosis.

However, the series does give an insight into the family’s ongoing medical journey. Ovard said her daughter had recently undergone another stable scan. She also said it was uncommon for a child with this type of cancer to have lived as long as she had.

The Independent reported that the family has been managing the situation one scan at a time. Ferris also reportedly described their daughter as a “walking miracle” during the show.

Impact of the diagnosis on her marriage

Ovard also spoke about how the health crisis developed as her marriage to Ferris deteriorated. The high school sweethearts divorced in 2024 after almost nine years of marriage.

“My marriage was nowhere near in a place to be able to make it through something like this,” she admitted. “We weren’t even going to make it through before this happened.”

Despite their relationship troubles, she kept trying to support Ferris because she knew how deeply he was grieving, she said.

In a therapy session featured in the series, Ovard said she wanted to make enough money so neither of them would have to work if they ever faced the loss of their child.

Why Aspyn is private about daughter's condition

Ovard also explained why she never talks about her daughter’s illness with the other women on the reality show’s cast.

“I just want to be distracted and I want to feel as normal as I can because I don’t ever get to feel that way anymore,” she said.

She said the conversations around the diagnosis can be triggering and traumatic, which is why she set boundaries from the start.

Ovard and Ferris have three daughters, Cove, 7, Lola, 5, and Elle, 2. The Hulu spin-off, which premiered on November 12, is telling the family story of the former couple.