One of the biggest difficulties for parents who have experienced the loss of pregnancy or stillbirth is the feeling that they are alone in their pain and that they have no one to talk to or who understands what they are going through. Quite a few celebrities who have gone through the same thing over the years, and many times felt alone as well, bravely decided to share their story to overcome the difficulty and create an inclusive and supportive discourse for other parents. Here are some of those stories:
 
Debbie Reynolds – was forced to carry her dead baby for 6 weeks
 
The famous Hollywood actress who starred in the blockbuster “Singing in the Rain” and mother of actress Carrie Fisher, bravely shared her unimaginable story about her pregnancy loss in 1989. In an interview with Joan Rivers, Debbie shared that she wanted to get pregnant with a third after two children. She succeeded, but when she was seven months pregnant, the fetus died in her womb. “It was a very hard thing to get over because, in those days, there were no abortions allowed whether you were ill or whether you were raped or whether the child died, which is disgusting to think that there were those laws, it’s ridiculous. I had to carry the child full term. That was the law. It didn’t matter. It had to abort itself — it could not be taken from me. It’s insane to think it could be”.
 
Debbie shared that during this time she had to be “business as usual”, went to parties, and people would frequently ask her ‘what’s the baby’s name?’. “it’s just something I never have forgotten, the pain of it. a lot of women go through this sort of thing”.
After that loss, Debbie got pregnant again, but sadly – the pregnancy ended with another stillbirth. She said that what saved her was that right after her loss, she received a call from the film production of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, asking if she was still pregnant or free to participate in the film. She was offered the leading role, for which she was nominated “best actress” at the 1964 Oscar awards. 
 
Michelle Obama – “I felt like I failed”
 
Before having her two daughters, Michelle Obama shared publicly in 2018 that she had gone through a miscarriage. 
In an interview with ABC news 2018, Obama opened up and said how awful she felt after her loss: “I felt lost and alone, and I felt like I failed. I didn’t know how common miscarriages were because we don’t talk about them. We sit in our pain, thinking that somehow we’re broken”.
 
After the miscarriage, Obama still had a hard time conceiving. Sasha and Malia, her two daughters, were conceived through IVF treatments.
 
Milla Jovovich
 
The famous model and the “Fifth Element” movie star shared her awful experience of having an emergency abortion a few years ago.
Jovovich was 4.5 months pregnant while shooting a movie in Europe at that time. She unexpectedly had to go threw n abortion in eastern Europe, alone and terrified. In a post she published on Instagram she wrote “I went into preterm labor and was told that I had to be awake for the whole procedure. It was one of the most horrific experiences I have ever gone through. I still have nightmares about it. I was alone and helpless. When I think about the fact that women might have to face abortions in even worse conditions than I did because of new laws, my stomach turns”.
 
Laura Prepon
 
Laura might be known widely as a comedian TV star (That 70s Show, Orange is the New Black), but in real life, she dealt with a huge tragedy.
 
Speaking to the magazine People, the actress said that she and her husband made the agonizing decision to terminate their second pregnancy after they discovered the fetus had a congenital disability. The couple was told that the fetus would not mature and that Laura’s life may be at risk if she decided to continue with the pregnancy.
 
Laura said then that she decided to share her tragedy with the world because to have serious and meaningful conversations about motherhood, we must talk about such issues and open up about what many prefer to keep in the dark.
 
Georgina Rodriguez
 
The model and spouse of European football star Christiano Ronaldo, has shared a lot of her personal experiences in the Netflix series “I, Georgina”. Sadly, not much after the show was aired, Georgina and Ronaldo had sad news to share with the world this time. On April 18, 2022, Ronaldo posted on Instagram that their baby boy, a twin to a baby girl, died during childbirth. “It is with our deepest sadness that we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away”, He wrote, “It is the greatest pain that any parent can feel. Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness”.
 
Keanu Reeves
 
The Hollywood star shared many times about the two terrible losses he experienced in his life, one after the other. The first was the loss of his and his partner’s Jennifer Syme, baby girl, on Christmas Eve of 1999. Syme delivered their stillborn daughter, Ava. A few weeks later the couple split but later on got back together. A short while after that, Syme died in a car accident. Opening up about his grief, Reeves said “Grief changes shape, but it never ends. People have a misconception that you can deal with it and say, ‘It’s gone, and I’m better.’ They’re wrong”. Reeves also said that he often wonders what life could have been if Ava and Jennifer were alive. “I wonder what the present would be like if they were here – what we might have done together. I miss all the great things that will never be”, he said in a 2006 interview with Parade magazine.
 
John Legend
 
The musician and his wife, Chrissie Teigen, were expecting their third child in 2020, but in September of that year, they lost their baby boy Jack. Following severe pregnancy complications, the doctors made it clear to Chrissy and John that the baby would not survive and that if Chrissy continued the pregnancy, she might not either. Chrissie shared all that happened on Instagram, and John shared her post with the caption “We love you, Jack”.
 
In a BBC Radio 4 interview, he said “I was hesitant to share it,” he explains in a BBC Radio 4 interview, “but I think Chrissy was right. Way more people than anybody realizes go through this and they think they are alone… there’s no real comfort and you’re always going to feel that loss. It kind of spreads over time, so it doesn’t feel as heavy, but you’ll never forget it.”