Grey's Anatomy finally gave closure to Katherine Heigl's Izzie Stevens in season 16 – and here's what happened after Heigl left the show.

Grey’s Anatomy gave Katherine Heigl worldwide recognition thanks to her role as Izzie Stevens, but what happened to her after Heigl’s departure from the series? Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy debuted on ABC in 2005 and has been unstoppable ever since. The series was originally a mid-season replacement, but it was very well received by critics and audiences, which has allowed it to continue for years.

Like any other medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy follows the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings, who do their best to balance their professional and personal lives. The series is set in Seattle, at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital (later Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital), and is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who along with Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr) are the only characters from season 1 who are still part of the show. Grey’s Anatomy is now waiting for its 17th season, and season 16 saw another character from season 1 leave: Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), whose departure ended up revealing the fate of another character.

Izzie Stevens, just like Meredith and Alex, started out as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital, and grew close with Alex, with whom she had an on-again off-again relationship. When Izzie discovered she had cancer, Meredith suggested she had healthy eggs removed from her in case she wanted to have kids in the future, and she did so. Her treatment was complicated, and after discovering another tumor in her brain, Meredith and Derek gave away their wedding to Izzie and Alex, and so they got married. Izzie got better and went back to work, but was fired after giving the wrong dosage of medicine to a patient. Thinking Alex was partly to blame, she wrote him a letter and left, but later returned for a final PET scan and to ask Derek to write her a recommendation letter so she could get a job in Tacoma. After that, her relationship with Alex was broken, and she left.

Izzie later sent divorce papers to Alex, which he signed, and they moved on, though they still had feelings for each other. Season 16 of Grey’s Anatomy finally revealed what happened to her after leaving Seattle: Alex explained that when Meredith was about to lose her license, he reached out to Izzie so she could help her. He admitted it was an excuse to finally call her, and that’s how he learned that Izzie has twins – and they are also his. Alex leaves Seattle to live with Izzie and their children in Kansas, as she was a single mother. Izzie carried on with her career and is now a surgical oncologist, and she and Alex are shown to be building a life together as a family.

The scenes showing Izzie and Alex’s new life were possible thanks to stand-ins, as neither Heigl nor Chambers returned for that (Chambers only lent his voice in this episode). Fan reaction to Izzie’s fate in Grey’s Anatomy was mixed: some liked that she was given a happy ending after all she went through, even if how it was portrayed wasn’t exactly the best way to do it, while others feel it was disrespectful to their stories to have them end up like this, but at least the writers finally gave proper closure to her arc.

Next: What Happened To Katherine Heigl