I can’t imagine what it must be like to want to have a child with Hugh Hefner. Let’s play naive for a minute and pretend that Holly Madison just wants to have a baby with Hef because she loves him sooooo much – let’s pretend it has nothing to do with money. I can’t imagine ever being able to look at him with those little expressions of adoration Holly manages to conjure up, and think how I want some mini-version of a legendary horn dog growing inside of me.

That’s probably one of the many reasons no one believes Holly wanted to have Hefner’s baby just because she was so in love with him. But it appears they really did try – via fertility treatments – and that the stress of the process is why they’re actually breaking up.

Holly Madison’s desire for a baby may be just what sparked the rumored troubles between Hugh Hefner and his #1 girlfriend. A source reveals exclusively to Scandalist that one of the main reasons Hef and Holly’s relationship began to deteriorate was their unsuccessful attempts to have children. “They tried many fertility treatments and couldn’t get pregnant,” the source reveals. “Holly really wanted to get married, but more than that, wanted a baby with Hef.” Earlier this year, Hef and Holly were reportedly spotted at the office of a Beverly Hills gynecologist who specializes in in-vitro fertilization. Following rumors of a split, Holly recently said, “I want to be with somebody who I can be married to, and have kids.”

Hef admitted his relationships with Holly, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson, are “in transition,” and Kendra told Us Weekly, “There are lot of changes going on … people are going through changes.” According to Kendra, Hef is taking it all in stride by taking up with some new girlfriends. “He keeps it cool, and he has a lot of girlfriends around now to keep him happy,” she said.

[From Scandalist]

Whatever the reason, it’s clear they want different things. Sheer math tells us it’s unlikely that Hef will be around to see the kid graduate from high school. And Holly said she wants to get married – and while Hef has previously said he’d consider having a child with Holly (I think he phrased it something along the lines of “giving her what she wants in that department”) he’s never said anything indicating that he’s willing to marry her. It’s best that they break up sooner rather than later. There are few things worse than wasting good years on dead end relationships.

Here’s Hef and the girls at the 47th Annual Monte Carlo TV Festival in June 2007. Images thanks to Fame.