Sometimes in life, women have to deal with unfortunate circumstances, but some have used those trials to help and uplift others. Famous stars like Thalía and Kat Von D have been open about their struggles with fertility and about their experiences with miscarriages. And recently, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend shared the heartbreaking news that they had lost their baby. Although it is one of the toughest things for a woman to live through, these stars have shared their stories in the hope it makes others feel less alone.
In her 2017 best-selling book titled We're Going to Need More Wine, actress Gabrielle Union shed light on her struggle to have kids. The 44-year-old actress, who is married to NBA star Dwyane Wade, opened up about her struggles with infertility and revealed that she has experienced multiple miscarriages. "I have had eight or nine miscarriages," she wrote in the book.
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"For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant—I've either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle or coming out of an IVF cycle." For years, Gabrielle had no interest in becoming a mom. "I never wanted kids. Then I became a stepmom, and there no place I'd rather be than with them," she told People at the time.
The road to motherhood has been a difficult and painful one for Gabrielle and for many other famous women in Hollywood. Other celebrities have shared their own struggles and experiences with miscarriages and the pain they bring. Here's a look at a few other celebs who have been open and honest about their experiences with miscarriages.
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend shared the news of their devastating miscarriage.
After weeks of bleeding and being on bed rest due to what she described as a "weak" placenta, Chrissy Teigen suffered a miscarriage, which the couple announced on social media the night of September 30, 2020. In a heartbreaking Instagram post, the model—who had been sharing her experience via Instagram Stories leading up to the miscarriage—posted photos of herself and John still at the hospital after losing the baby, saying, "We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we’ve never felt before."
Kat Von D opened up on Instagram about her two miscarriages.
The makeup mogul welcomed her baby boy, Leafar, in December 2018, but shared that she had dealt with two miscarriages before getting pregnant with him. A fan responded to one of Kat's Instagram posts of her baby in January 2019 saying that she "may never be able to have a baby" after suffering two miscarriages. The tattoo artist replied to that comment writing: "I miscarried twice before we had Baby Leafar. Never say never!"
Michelle Obama opened up about the difficult time in her life.
The former first lady, who rarely shares private aspects of her life, revealed in her 2018 memoir Becoming that before she and husband Barack Obama welcomed two daughters via IVF, she suffered a miscarriage. “We were trying to get pregnant and it wasn’t going well,” the former first lady wrote in her book, according to the Associated Press. “We had one pregnancy test come back positive, which caused us both to forget every worry and swoon with joy, but a couple of weeks later I had a miscarriage, which left me physically uncomfortable and cratered any optimism we felt.”
Shay Mitchell shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram that she had miscarried.
During her year in review at the end of 2018, Shay shared a series of photos of the past year of her life. One of them was a sonogram photo of a baby to which she added the broken heart emoji. She added a text post, explaining that we don't often see the bad parts that people go through on social media. “The support and affection that so many of you show me lifts me up during even my darkest days, one of which happened last year after I miscarried and lost the child of my hopes and dreams,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “In the spirit of the new year, I think that we need to remember that we are all on this journey together—in good times and bad—and to remind ourselves that we seldom really know or understand the struggles and hardships that other people are going through.”
In 2015, Thalía revealed her shocking miscarriage.
In an appearance on El Gordo y La Flaca, Thalía shared some of the miscarriages she had experienced during her marriage with Tommy Mottola. She claims that in many ways the devastating circumstances helped strengthen their relationship.
Adamari Lopez suffered three miscarriages.
She suffered three miscarriages before having her baby girl, Alaïa, with Toni Costa. It was definitely a difficult time.
Beyoncé opened up about her miscarriage before Blue Ivy.
In her HBO documentary Life is but a Dream, Beyoncé revealed the miscarriage she suffered before getting pregnant with Blue Ivy. "About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time," the Grammy winner says in one scene. "And I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life," she said.
Mariah Carey suffered a miscarriage before having her twins.
In an exclusive interview with ABC, Mariah shared that she had experienced a miscarriage before getting pregnant with twins Monroe and Morocco. It was "really tough" and inspired her to change her lifestyle.
Alejandra Espinoza opened up about her three miscarriages.
The TV personality revealed that the first two miscarriages didn't hurt her as much as the third, which happened 13 weeks into her pregnancy in 2013, because she felt like she was sure she was going to have that child. She welcomed her first child, Matteo, with husband Anibal Marrero in 2015, and he's the cutest.
Gabrielle Union has had eight or nine miscarriages.
Union's choice to share her story is a brave one, especially because miscarriages are actually a lot more common than you'd think. Around 50% of all pregnancies end in miscarriages. That's a crazy high statistic.
Courteney Cox has suffered miscarriages and would like to have another child.
In an interview with New Beauty in 2017, Cox revealed that she would like to have another child eventually. The mom had a daughter, Coco, in 2004 with ex-husband David Arquette also shared that she has suffered from multiple miscarriages due to health problems.
Giuliana Rancic has been very open about her fertility struggles.
She and her husband Bill welcomed their son via surrogate back in 2012, but Giuliana later shared that her surrogate who was pregnant with their third and last remaining embryo had miscarried. "It was painful," she told People. "We were so optimistic with this last embryo. We thought, 'This is definitely going to work. This is our last shot.'"
Barbara Walters had a few miscarriages.
In 2011, Barbara Walters brought up her experience with miscarriages during a segment on The View. "Just because you've brought it up, I've had three miscarriages, but I know what it's like to be pregnant." She didn't say much more on the subject after that.
Brooke Shields wrote about her miscarriage in a book.
In her 2006 memoir, Down Came The Rain, Shields shared her devastating miscarriage experience. "We were crushed," she told People. "Up until then, I thought simply because it was time and I wanted to have a baby, it would work out."
Celine Dion had a miscarriage before her sons.
In 2010, Celine Dion revealed to the French press that she before having her two sons via IVF, that she had experienced a miscarriage. "They said that I was pregnant, and a couple of days after, [my husband and I] were not pregnant again. We didn't want to feel like we were playing yo-yo. 'I'm pregnant. I'm not pregnant. I'm pregnant. I'm not pregnant.' So we didn't want to do this thing. But we did have a miscarriage … I never gave up. But I can tell you that it was physically and emotionally exhausting."
Bethenny Frankel experienced a miscarriage after her first child.
The reality star, who has a 7-year-old daughter named Bryn, miscarried eight weeks into her second pregnancy. "I've honestly had women that I've been friends with in the past [say] they had a miscarriage. And I kind of didn't really understand, and I'd say, 'I'm so sorry that's terrible.' But not until you really go through it, do you understand what it means. In your head, it's a person that could never be. You blame yourself as a woman," she said of the devastating incident on her talk show back in 2012.
Elizabeth Banks opened up in an interview about her devastating miscarriages.
Before having children via surrogate, Elizabeth Banks opened up to Lucky mag about how she had experienced several miscarriages in the past.
Gwyneth Paltrow had a miscarriage with her third pregnancy.
The actress says she experienced a miscarriage that nearly took her life. "My children ask me to have a baby all the time," she said in 2013. "And you never know, I could squeeze one more in. I am missing my third. I’m thinking about it. But I had a really bad experience when I was pregnant with my third. It didn’t work out and I nearly died. So I am like, 'Are we good here or should we go back and try again?' " she told the Daily Mail.
Nicole Kidman's first try at getting pregnant ended in a miscarriage.
Part of the reason why Nicole and Tom Cruise adopted their two eldest children was because Nicole had experienced a miscarriage early on. "From the minute Tom and I were married, I wanted to have babies," she told Vanity Fair back in 2007. "And we lost a baby early on, so that was really very traumatic," she said. Nicole and her current husband, Keith Urban, had daughter Sunday Rose together but used a surrogate to welcome their daughter Faith Margaret.
Sharon Stone suffered a lot of miscarriages.
Sharon Stone, who has lupus, has suffered a few miscarriages. One during her first marriage, then two more when she was married to Phil Bronstein. The last one was devastating. "The last time I lost the baby, I went into 36 hours of labor," she told AARP magazine. "While we were at the hospital, our adoption attorney called."
Christie Brinkley suffered a miscarriage before having her three kids.
The super model suffered three miscarriages while undergoing IVF treatments before having her daughter Sailor Lee. She now has three children.
Nick Carter revealed his wife Lauren Kitt had suffered a miscarriage.
"God give us peace during this time. I really was looking forward to meeting her after 3 months ," the Backstreet Boys member tweeted in September 2018 about the second child they were expecting. "I’m heart broken."
Former Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete opened up on Instagram about her loss.
The Mexican beauty queen and her husband Juan Carlos Valladares announced in August 2018 with a heartfelt message to her fans that she had lost her baby 15 weeks into her pregnancy.
Lisa Long took her miscarriage hard.
"I felt more like a failure than I'd felt in a very long time," Lisa said in an episode of The View back in 2010. "We actually [hadn’t] been trying that long," she says. "I don’t know that I took it as seriously as I should have because it happened so fast. But then when I heard the doctor say there was no heartbeat it was like, bam! Like a knife through the heart."
