Sadly, pregnancy loss is an all too common thing for many moms-to-be. An estimated 10% to 20% of known pregnancies result in miscarriage — meaning pregnancy loss before 20 weeks. Loss that comes later than that is qualified as a stillbirth, which can happen in one out of every 160 pregnancies. Those numbers are high enough for a significant number of celebrities to have experienced pregnancy loss in their lives.
It just goes to show that even with a lot of money and great health care, miscarriage happens, and it’s no fault of the mom or her status. Because there is such a stigma around pregnancy loss still, we’re so grateful to these celebrities for speaking up about their experiences to let other women know that they’re not alone. Losing a wanted pregnancy can feel so isolating, but those who have dealt with pregnancy loss are most certainly not alone. Stars, they’re just like us, even when it comes to the sad stuff.
Chrissy Teigen
Fans were so excited about the new arrival to the Legend family after Chrissy revealed she was pregnant in one of her husband’s music videos. But sadly, she lost the baby not long after. The model posted the news to Instagram, alongside a photo of her and John holding hands in a hospital bed.
“We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we’ve never felt before,” Chrissy wrote, before adding that she and John decided that their son’s name would have been Jack.
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle experienced several miscarriages before having her daughter Kaavia with husband Dwyane Wade. On Instagram, she wrote about how hard it was to hold onto hope after so much loss.
“Hope can feel like a cruel joke that plays on repeat. You stop letting yourself get excited and you don’t dare utter any updates. You carry it all. It can feel isolating and depressing. You wonder if you are defective. You are not. You wonder if you are worthy. You are,” she said. “You are not alone. You are loved and worthy and every feeling is real and understood.”
Joy-Anna Duggar
Joy-Anna and her husband, Austin Forsyth, recently gave birth to their rainbow baby, Evelyn, but before that Joy-Anna had a stillbirth at 20 weeks. She remembered her daughter, Annabell Elise, on Instagram ahead of what would have been her due date.
“While we grieve over the loss of our baby girl who would’ve been due in just 8 days, we are grateful for the time we had with her,” she wrote. “We are thankful for the precious hours we were able to hold her in our arms and say our goodbyes. We are thankful that God allowed us to be her parents, and we know that her life — though it was brief — has changed our lives forever.”
Gwyneth Paltrow
In 2013, Gwyneth opened up about having a miscarriage while pregnant with her third child. “I had a really bad experience … and it didn’t work out and I nearly died,” she admitted, then added, “I am missing my third.” At the time, she said she was thinking about getting pregnant again, but she’s since split from her husband, Chris Martin, and hasn’t proceeded with having another baby with new husband Brad Falchuk.
Shay Mitchell
The Pretty Little Liars star shared on YouTube that she’d had a miscarriage in 2018. The experience led her to wait a very long time time into her next pregnancy with daughter Atlas to announce the news. “When it happened, I was just completely blindsided by it,” she said of her 14-week miscarriage, adding that she was looking forward to her second pregnancy. “Of course, I’m, like, super happy, but I still feel for the one that I lost.”
Shawn Johnson
After a miscarriage in 2017, gymnast Shawn Johnson pledged to not give up hope on starting a family with her husband. “The past 48 hours have been some of the happiest, scariest, and saddest times of my life,” she said at the time. “My husband Andrew and I found out that we were unexpectedly pregnant, only to find out hours later some tragic news. I have been crying more than I ever have, but am still optimistic for what is next.”
They welcomed their rainbow child in 2019.
Beyoncé
Before Blue Ivy’s birth, Beyoncé had several miscarriages. In an interview with Elle, she said that the losses helped her look inward. “I learned that all pain and loss is in fact a gift. Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else,” she said. Eventually she and Jay-Z went on to have three healthy children, and there’s no doubt she doesn’t take them for granted.
Nick Carter
Nick and his wife, Lauren Kitt, had been hoping to give their son a sibling, but Lauren miscarried in 2018. Nick shared the sad news on Twitter, adding that he would still perform that night, but that it would be a challenge. “God give us peace during this time. I really was looking forward to meeting her after 3 months. I’m heart broken … This will be hard, but for the love of my fans here in Lima I’ll be on the stage tonight.”
Eventually, they got pregnant again and gave birth to their daughter, Saoirse, in 2019.
Lindsay Lohan
According to Us Weekly, Lindsay Lohan actually experienced a miscarriage while filming her docuseries that aired in 2014. “I couldn’t move. I was sick. And mentally that messes with you … Watching this series, I just know how I felt at that moment and I can relate to that girl, which sounds kind of crazy,” Lindsay said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is really sad. Who’s helping her?'”
Courteney Cox
The Friends actress told NBC News that she’d experienced pregnancy loss while filming the popular show. “One time I just had a miscarriage and Rachel was giving birth. It was like that same time,” she said of the show’s storyline that week. “Oh my God, it was terrible having to be funny.”
Hilaria Baldwin
Hilaria and her husband, Alec Baldwin, recently welcomed a healthy baby boy, her fifth child with Alec. But prior to that, she’d dealt with pregnancy loss that shook her up so much, she ended up penning an essay for Glamour about it.
“When you feel so sad, you just want to crumble, and it is hard to be your own advocate — but you must be,” she wrote. “I had to tell myself that I deserved to heal and to be happy again. This lesson became my mantra. Processing and going through grieving was important, but I didn’t have to be condemned to a life of emotional punishment and suffering.”
James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek’s wife, Kimberly, had a miscarriage that almost claimed her own life, too, which made the whole thing so much worse. “Grateful that she’s now recovering, but we’ve only just begun unpacking the layers of this one,” James wrote on Instagram. “Grieving AND counting our blessings today.”
Lauren and Josiah Duggar
Lauren and Josiah Duggar were both open about what it was like to lose a pregnancy in early 2019. “Our expectations of setting up a baby room, hearing the heart beat, feeling the baby’s first kick in mommy’s tummy, holding our little one and getting to to see our precious baby were — Shattered. Gone. Right before our eyes,” Lauren said.
The couple ended up trying again and were grateful to give birth to their rainbow baby, Bella.
Hilarie Burton
One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton and her husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, now have two children, but growing their family didn’t come without struggle. “When you get blindsided by your body, that betrayal of your body is very hard to overcome,” Hilarie said about experiencing pregnancy loss. After so much tragedy, Hilarie kept her daughter’s birth a secret until almost the last minute for fear of dealing with more heartbreak.
Carrie Underwood
For singer Carrie Underwood, it was just loss after loss. She had three miscarriages in two years, which made her question herself. “Of course you wonder if it’s you, what am I doing wrong, or what have I done wrong,” she said. But it was no fault of her own, and she eventually was able to get pregnant again and give birth to her second son, Jacob.
