Chrissy Teigen has opened up about how far she and husband John Legend have come since the devastating loss of their unborn son, Jack.
It's been over a year since the former model, 35, tragically lost her baby boy back in 2020. She documented the agonizing experience in a set of devastating pictures on social media.
Despite feeling like she'll never recover from the loss, Chrissy believes she "emerged stronger" from the heartbreaking experience.
On Monday, October 18, the star tweeted the introduction for her upcoming cookbook Cravings: All Together, out October 26.
In the intro, the celebrity cook says "we've all been through the ringer" in the past few years for various reasons. She added that family is "more important than ever," and that people learned that firsthand during the pandemic.
"Without a doubt, I have just lived through a period more transformative than I could have ever imagined. We lived through personal trauma, with the loss of our unborn baby, Jack," she writes in the introduction.
She continues: "And that turned a very private journey into personal love and acceptance of life and all of its wild, horrific, beautiful ups and downs. So many of you stood by us during that time! I cannot thank you enough.
"The journey changed me in ways nothing else ever could, and while it was the absolute most painful thing I have endured, I have emerged stronger and hungrier than ever. Hungry for my family, hungry for my friends, hungry for love, hungry for work, hungry to make you hungry, and just plain f*****g hungry."
The former model - who is also mom to daughter Luna, five, and son Miles, three - honored "the son we almost had" on Instagram last month for National Sons Day.
Sharing a photo of herself crying in a hospital bed as John held her, Chrissy wrote: "A year ago you gave me the greatest pain I could ever imagine to show me I could survive anything, even if I didn't want to.
"I didn't get to take care of you but you came and went to get me to love myself and take care of myself because our bodies are precious and life is a miracle. they told me it would get easier but yeah, that hasn't started yet. mom and dad love you forever."
The 35-year-old model took to Instagram on Sunday to open up about the devastating loss, which took place in October last year.
Sharing an image of herself with husband John Legend having dinner at a restaurant called Frank in New York City, Teigen shared just how she's feeling.
In a caption addressed to her 35 million followers, the former model wrote that she and her singer husband have been dining at the restaurant for over 13 years and that they used to live just around the corner in NYC's East Village.
Their most recent visit put her in a reflective mood, as she wrote: "Thinking about all the stuff I’ve done and been through not just this year but in my life.
"It kind of started when I was thinking of my book caption and typed out: 'my third baby is here!!', as in cookbook, then realized my third baby will never be here.
"Then I realized I threw myself into the book to not think of the real, actual third baby. I don't really feel like I fully processed Jack and now that I don't have the alcohol to numb it away, things are just…there, waiting to be acknowledged. [sic]"
Credit: Alamy/Reuters
According to People, Teigen previously shared the dedication page from her book Cravings: All Together: Recipes To Love on her Instagram Stories - which showed the words "For Jack" surrounded by macadamia nut cookies.
In a statement posted to their social media accounts the day after her admission, Chrissy and John wrote broke the tragic news, writing: "We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we've never felt before."
They continued: "We never decide on our babies' names until the last possible moment after they're born, just before we leave the hospital. But we, for some reason, had started to call this little guy in my belly Jack.
"So he will always be Jack to us. Jack worked so hard to be a part of our little family, and he will be, forever.
"To our Jack - I'm so sorry that the first few moments of your life were met with so many complications, that we couldn't give you the home you needed to survive. We will always love you."
The former model, 35, tragically lost her baby son Jack back in 2020 and documented the agonizing experience in a set of devastating pictures on social media.
A whole year has now passed since the traumatizing day, and Chrissy honored the "son we almost had" in a touching caption penned from the heart.
Sharing a photo of herself crying in a hospital bed as her husband held her, Chrissy wrote: "And to the son we almost had. A year ago you gave me the greatest pain I could ever imagine to show me I could survive anything, even if I didn't want to.
"I didn't get to take care of you but you came and went to get me to love myself and take care of myself because our bodies are precious and life is a miracle. They told me it would get easier but yeah, that hasn't started yet. Mom and dad love you forever."
Chrissy then took to her Instagram Story, writing: " I didn't sleep at all last night, as John can attest. I was up sick, sobbing, as my phone popped up the memory of being in the hospital exactly 1 year ago, losing our baby.
"So maybe I'm a little sensitive today, so f*** off."
The tribute, posted on National Sons Day, comes almost one year after the pair announced that they suffered the loss of their pregnancy with Jack.
Teigen, who suffers from endometriosis, was previously put on bed rest and eventually hospitalized due to excessive bleeding.
The couple, who tied the knot in 2013, also share daughter Luna, five, and son Miles, three, both of whom they conceived via IVF.
Sharing an image of herself with husband John Legend having dinner at a restaurant called Frank in New York City, Teigen shared just how she's feeling.
In a caption addressed to her 35 million followers, the former model wrote that she and her singer husband have been dining at the restaurant for over 13 years and that they used to live just around the corner in NYC's East Village.
Their most recent visit put her in a reflective mood, as she wrote: "Thinking about all the stuff I’ve done and been through not just this year but in my life.
"It kind of started when I was thinking of my book caption and typed out: 'my third baby is here!!', as in cookbook, then realized my third baby will never be here.
"Then I realized I threw myself into the book to not think of the real, actual third baby. I don't really feel like I fully processed Jack and now that I don't have the alcohol to numb it away, things are just…there, waiting to be acknowledged. [sic]"
Chrissy Teigen took to Instagram yesterday to share the devastating news that she and her husband John Legend had lost their unborn child, whom they had named Jack.
Teigen was believed to be halfway along in her pregnancy.
The 34-year-old, who has two other children with Legend - four-year-old Luna, and two-year-old Miles - had been updating her 31.5 million followers on the progress of her pregnancy, which became more complicated in recent weeks.
Alongside several black-and-white candid photos - which showed the aftermath of her miscarriage in an incredibly raw manner; one of her in tears, her head bowed on a hospital bed, and another of her holding the child in a bundle of blankets, with Legend's face resting on her shoulder - Teigen wrote:
"We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we’ve never felt before. We were never able to stop the bleeding and give our baby the fluids he needed, despite bags and bags of blood transfusions. It just wasn’t enough."
The model and TV personality has long been an outspoken user of Twitter, where she has previously shared many intimate insights into her family life, as well as speaking brazenly about politics (in a particularly scathing manner about the Trump Administration).
That being said, she is no stranger to criticism and internet trolling.
So amidst the condolences and support she and Legend received from celebrities and her followers, Teigen was subjected to people who questioned her outlet for grief.
Why did she choose to share something so personal and intimate? Many people accused her of seeking attention, while others criticized how she handled her pregnancy to begin with.
Others even questioned whether she chose to go to the hospital too late.
And, of course, there were comments regarding why she decided to "pose" for photos in the wake of her miscarriage.
[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA Images]]
Teigen has never shied away from sharing her vulnerabilities with the world; she chronicled the process of getting her breast implants removed, has spoken candidly about the realities of being a working mother, and now about pregnancy loss, in all of its raw pain.
By doing so, Teigen has given a voice - at her own expense - to something that is very common, but rarely given a public platform.
Per the NHS, miscarriages are much more common than most people realize.
The website details that amongst women who are confirmed to be pregnant, it is estimated that around one in eight pregnancies will end in miscarriage. And 1% - approximately 24,000 pregnancies each year - end after 20 weeks in stillbirth.
Teigen's refusal to grieve silently (she later tweeted: "Driving home from the hospital with no baby. How can this be real") will undoubtedly go a long way to comfort a legion of women and families who have experienced the same thing, but found it difficult to speak about.
Miscarriages are often shrouded in secrecy, partly due to the language of "failure" that surrounds conception, and the lack thereof, but also due to the scale of pain suffered by those who have lost a child.
Women are expected to carry about their normal routines during and afterward; speaking about their experience, and the hope they had for their unborn child, will inevitably render outsiders uncomfortable, and is therefore stigmatized.
So, Teigen's honestly most likely came at great personal cost.
In fact, after Teigen shared her heartbreaking loss, actress Kate Beckinsale spoke out - not only to slam those attacking the model for "posing" for photographs or taking to social media when she "should be mourning" - but also to share that she has also gone through the pain of a miscarriage.
Beckinsale wrote:
"I’ve noticed people criticizing @chrissyteigen for sharing deeply intimate photos of the loss of her baby.
"As if there’s some protocol during [the] soul-scouring calamity that, if not observed, emboldens people who do not know her or her family to say how she should be handling the unimaginable."
The Underworld actress then opened up about how she herself lost a baby after 20 weeks of gestation, and how she was left emotionally devastated by the experience.
"Years ago, I lost a baby at 20 weeks. I had managed to keep my pregnancy quiet and I absolutely collapsed inside and no one would have known," the 47-year-old star wrote.
"There is grief, shame and shock so often that come with an experience like this, plus the heartbreak of your body continuing, after the loss, to act as if it had a child to nurture," she added.
Beckinsale then explained: "Your milk comes in, with no one to feed. It can be the loneliest, most soul destroying period of time, particularly if you are not in the position of having an emotionally connected, supportive partner like Chrissy has."
She continued:
"I think it’s an honor to be allowed into another [person's] grief, especially with a subject like this which so often puts a woman into that hall of mirrors state of life continuing as if the world hasn’t, for you, come to a bloody and terrible halt."
Teigen refused to make her story or her pain palatable, which we are collectively expected to do. But nothing about losing a child is comfortable, and speaking about it should not lead to accusations of oversharing, rather we should praise the individual's strength and vulnerability.
October is Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month, and when we look at the photos of Chrissy Teigen, we must swallow the feeling of being uncomfortable in the face of such clear anguish.
The loss of a child is something that many women and families cannot just ignore, and neither should we.
If you are struggling with any of the issues discussed in this article, in the United Kingdom miscarriageassociation.org.uk provides support services including a helpline and online live chat.
In the United States, womenshealth.gov provides advice on coping with pregnancy loss.
Chrissy Teigen took to Instagram on 1 October to share the devastating news that she and her husband John Legend had lost their unborn child, whom they had named Jack.
Teigen was believed to be halfway along in her pregnancy.
The 34-year-old, who has two other children with Legend - four-year-old Luna, and two-year-old Miles - had been updating her 31.5 million followers on the progress of her pregnancy, which became more complicated in recent weeks.
Alongside several black-and-white candid photos - which showed the aftermath of her miscarriage in an incredibly raw manner; one of her in tears, her head bowed on a hospital bed, and another of her holding the child in a bundle of blankets, with Legend's face resting on her shoulder - Teigen wrote:
"We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we’ve never felt before. We were never able to stop the bleeding and give our baby the fluids he needed, despite bags and bags of blood transfusions. It just wasn’t enough."
Now, Teigen has returned to social media for a much-needed laugh.
For the first time since sharing her loss, Teigen has returned to Instagram, leaving a comment on a photo on the @betches Instagram account.
The post was a screenshot of a tweet that read: “Just booked an eyebrow waxing appointment and I‘m excited I’ll be wearing a mask so I don’t have to hear ‘moustache too?’”
The cookbook author left a reply on the post: "Finally, a giggle. Thank you."
Her response garnered hundreds of well wishes from fans.
Per the NHS, miscarriages are much more common than most people realize.
The website details that amongst women who are confirmed to be pregnant, it is estimated that around one in eight pregnancies will end in miscarriage. And 1% - approximately 24,000 pregnancies each year - end after 20 weeks in stillbirth.
Chrissy Teigen took to social media earlier this month to reveal the tragic news that she had lost her baby.
Now, the model, social media personality, and writer, 34, has penned a moving essay about the events which led to the loss of her and John Legend's son, Jack.
In the powerful essay, she reflected on being told by doctors that her third child would not survive until she had carried him to term.
She wrote on Medium: "After a couple [of] nights at the hospital, my doctor told me exactly what I knew was coming - it was time to say goodbye.
"He [Jack] just wouldn't survive this, and if it went on any longer, I might not either. We had tried bags and bags of blood transfusions, every single one going right through me like we hadn't done anything at all.
"Late one night, I was told it would be time to let go in the morning."
She explained that despite her husband's reluctance, she took them as she "needed to know of this moment forever, the same way I needed to remember us kissing at the end of the aisle, the same way I needed to remember our tears of joy after Luna and Miles. And I absolutely knew I needed to share this story."
She added: "I cannot express how little I care that you hate the photos. 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. The thoughts of others do not matter to me."
Chrissy's mother shared this heartbreaking video of herself cradling Jack:
The 34-year-old said that she has been experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions since her miscarriage and has been especially grateful to her children, Luna, four, and Miles, two, during this time.
"I find myself randomly crying, thinking about how happy I am to have two insanely wonderful little toddlers who fill this house with love," she wrote.
Chrissy concluded her heartbreaking essay by thanking those who have wished her and his family well.
"I wrote this because I knew for me I needed to say something before I could move on from this and return back to life, so I truly thank you for allowing me to do so. Jack will always be loved, explained to our kids as existing in the wind and trees and the butterflies they see."
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