John Legend says the pregnancy loss he and Chrissy Teigen experienced nearly two years ago “tested” the couple ― though it also showed him how brave his wife is.
“It was a tragedy,” John said in an interview published on Monday in The Guardian. “But I think it strengthened our resolve and our resilience because we were there for each other. We came out even more sure of who we were as a couple and as a family.”
Chrissy and John, parents to Luna and Miles, experienced the pregnancy loss in September 2020 after she was diagnosed with a partial placental abruption and had to deliver at 20 weeks. The couple said they had named the baby Jack.
The couple have been open about their fertility and pregnancy journeys in the past and shared their loss in personal photos.
“It was raw, sharing our experience,” John told The Guardian. “I was worried but our instinct was to do it because people knew we were pregnant and Chrissy felt like she needed to tell the story completely about what happened.”
The photos ― like anything on the internet ― drew a polarising response, but John said the couple were “amazed by the outpouring of love and support we felt.”
“We found out how many other families have gone through this,” he said. “It was a powerful and brave thing that Chrissy did to share that because it made so many people feel like they were seen and that they weren’t alone.”
Chrissy, in an essay for Medium in October, explained why she wanted the photos taken and addressed the backlash.
“I cannot express how little I care that you hate the photos,” the supermodel wrote at the time. “How little I care that it’s something you wouldn’t have done. I lived it, I chose to do it, and more than anything, these photos aren’t for anyone but the people who have lived this or are curious enough to wonder what something like this is like.”
“These photos are only for the people who need them,” she added. “The thoughts of others do not matter to me.”
Chrissy said in January she’d been sober for six months. She said in March that she’d been undergoing in vitro fertilisation to become pregnant again.
Help and support:
- Sands works to support anyone affected by the death of a baby.
- Tommy’s fund research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth, and provide pregnancy health information to parents.
- Saying Goodbye offers support for anyone who has suffered the loss of a baby during pregnancy, at birth or in infancy.