In the past week, there have been at least two reports of problems within the Tom Crusie-Katie Holmes union. First, there was the report that Tom Cruise makes Katie Holmes feel inadequate because she hasn’t gotten pregnant again, and because she hasn’t embraced Scientology as much as he’d hoped. The second report was that Katie Holmes is so focused on her career, she’s neglecting Tom’s sexual, baby-making needs. In Touch has a new story that sort of refutes those reports, though.

In Touch claims that Tom and Katie have been trying to get pregnant for a while, but it just hasn’t happened. So, of course, they’re going to try in vitro fertilization. Not just to have one other baby – according to this report, Katie is hell-bent on having twins. The logic is a little faulty – I think they’re saying Katie wants twins because Suri was a really difficult pregnancy, and she only wants to go through one more pregnancy, so why not go for twins?

She’d just gotten back from the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, but as Katie Holmes chatted with a group of girlfriends at her Beverly Hills home, the movie business was the furthest thing from her mind.

“The main topic of conversation was babies,” says one of Katie’s pals. “Twins, to be exact!”

As In Touch previously reported, Katie, 30, and her husband, Tom Cruise, are eager to expand their family – and now they’re taking some real steps in that direction.

And her pal says that she and Tom, 46, are now eager to explore procedures such as in vitro fertilization. “She’s thrilled and Tom is over the moon,” says another friend of Katie’s.

She’ll do whatever it takes
As much as Katie – whose rep denies the story – and Tom love being parents to their daughter Suri, 3, and Tom’s older kids, Connor, 14, and Isabella, 16, the pal says they miss having a baby in the home.

Katie’s friend adds that the couple has been trying to conceive for a while now – but without success. They both see in vitro fertilization as the perfect solution with an added bonus: Couples who undergo IVF have a greater likelihood of conceiving twins.

“Katie wouldn’t mind having two more kids with Tom, but she didn’t have the easiest pregnancy with Suri, so she isn’t looking forward to two more pregnancies,” her pal explains. “And Tom loves the idea of twins.”

After Suri’s birth, Katie took some time to focus on her career – but she always knew she wanted a large family. [Her friend says that] desire has grown more and more powerful.

“Katie knows IVF can be grueling, but she feels mentally strong and ready to do whatever it takes,” says the friend.

Now that she’s spoken in depth to fertility experts, “Katie is confident and quietly hopeful that she may now get pregnant in the next few months.”

Tom is feeling hopeful, too. “He’s not getting any younger,” the friend adds. “He doesn’t want to be too old by the time his kids are teenagers, so he hopes Katie will get pregnant quickly.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, May 25, 2009]

I sort of buy that Tom and Katie have been trying for another baby. I make a lot of jokes about “contractual obligations”, but I tend to believe that both Tom and Katie would like more children for whatever reasons. It’s interesting then that they haven’t gotten pregnant, especially if they‘ve been trying as long as I think they have.

One of the few rumors about Tom Cruise that I’ve always believed whole-heartedly is that for whatever reason, he is sterile. And from that one rumor, I’ve come to believe in several others – like, if Nicole Kidman had a miscarriage at the end of her marriage to Tom, perhaps it wasn’t his child. Also, that Suri might not be his or she might not have been conceived the old-fashioned way. Yes, those theories are based on my belief in one rumor, but it would answer a lot of questions.