Miscarriage is devastating, to say the least. It’s the kind of pain that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve been through it yourself. Pregnancy loss can happen to anyone--even celebrities. It can be discouraging, even scary, to try again for a little one. But holding that little hand for the first time after such a rough road is magical.
Pregnancy loss used to be one of those issues spoken about in hushed tones. It wasn’t exactly dinner conversation and certainly wasn’t something that was talked about in public spaces. Many people struggle to name a woman they know who has experienced it. And for those who have gone through it, miscarriage can be a terribly isolating experience.
We know better now. We know how common miscarriage is. More than a million women lose a pregnancy each year, but there’s still hesitation when bringing it up in conversation. Of those million per year are celebrities.
More and more, high profile women have been using their prestige to normalize what many women feel they must hide. By getting candid in interviews, blogs, and social media, celebrities give aspiring parents everywhere a sense of solidarity.
And when those celebrities eventually do have the children they fought for, it gives hope to those still struggling. Here are stars who have come out of their storms with a rainbow baby to call their own.
Mainly known for her roles in That 70’s Show and Orange Is The New Black, we haven’t had much of an opportunity to learn about Lauren Prepon on a personal level. But her experience with pregnancy loss and motherhood has recently become the exception.
In her new book, You and I As Mothers, Prepon gets candid about the devastation and joy that’s come from each pregnancy. In an interview with People, she says--
“I’m a private person, so this is the first time I’ve been this open. But I feel in order to have a real conversation about motherhood, you need to share truths and talk about what’s really going on.”
After having her first, Ella, in 2017, Prepon and her husband, Ben Foster, got pregnant for the second time. When going for a routine ultrasound, the second time parents-to-be didn’t get the news they’d hoped for. At three months, Prepon and Foster learned they would have to abort their baby.
“Our neonatal specialist told us the brain was not growing, and the bones were not growing. We were told the pregnancy could not go to full term and that my body was at risk carrying any longer.”
From there, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to conceive again, but she still tried. And thank goodness she did! In February of this year, Prepon and Foster welcomed a new little rainbow baby into their growing family. It’s beautiful to see after the hardship they went through.
Formerly known as Lucy on 7th Heaven, Beverley Mitchell, along with husband Micheal Cameron, had long since taken on new roles. The two feel blessed to call themselves mother and father to three beautiful children.
With their first two pregnancies running smoothly, Mitchell and Cameron had no reason to believe their third would go differently. That’s what made what came next so painful.
In 2018, Mitchell bravely shared that she had suffered a miscarriage while carrying twins. On her blog, Growing Up Hollywood, she wrote a detailed account of her experience.
The loss of her pregnancy came as a surprise because of her previous success during previous terms. Admittedly, she wasn’t well-versed on the topic until she’d gone through it herself.
“This was my misconception, you see, I didn’t know much about miscarriages, and I didn’t know many people who had miscarried, or so I thought. It wasn’t until I started sharing our loss that I found out many people I knew shared the same scars. I was now part of a group, the unspoken and hidden group who mourned their losses in the shadows.”
But a year later, the two already-proud parents came out with some joyful news. In an Instagram post, touting an at-home pregnancy test, she gushed with excitement. In a pinch-me moment, she peed on multiple sticks to make sure the results were real. Sure enough, they were.
This past July, Beverley, Micheal, along with children Kenzie Lynn (7) and Hutton Micheal (5), welcomed their newest addition.
Broadcasting her news, she posts--
“Happy to share with the world our sweet little girl, Mayzel Josephine. She has captured our hearts, and we couldn’t love her more,” she continues, “We are over the moon and soaking up cuddles and showering her in kisses.”
Since then, Beverley has enjoyed giving fans and moms alike a peek into her kid-filled world, throwing in some astute wisdom on her life as a mother. Celebrities like Laura Prepon and Beverly Mitchell not only show struggling potential parents that they aren’t alone but that there is hope. Pregnancy loss is becoming a more common topic of conversation, but the story often doesn’t continue further. By sharing their rainbows after the storm, they tell those who’ve had miscarriages that they can get theirs too. Congratulations to the new mommies!