5 Celebs Who Have Opened Up About Having Miscarriages

Although many people don't talk about it, miscarriages are common. According to the Mayo Clinic, 10% to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. However, it's believed that the percentage is much higher because, in the early stages of pregnancy, it's not uncommon for someone not to know they're pregnant and dismiss a miscarriage as their period or spotting.

There's no one reason someone might miscarry, but it's important to realize that if you do, you've done nothing wrong. As the Cleveland Clinic reports, 50% of miscarriages that happen in the first trimester are the result of chromosomal abnormalities, meaning the egg and sperm, despite being able to conceive, ultimately brought the wrong number of chromosomes to the party. Other reasons for miscarriages can range anywhere from age to various diseases, immune disorders, infections, or simply a hormonal imbalance. And, tragically, a 2018 study published in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology found that miscarriages are becoming even more common, at an increased rate of one percent per year.

While miscarriages are devastating on many levels, what also hurts are the feelings of helplessness and isolation that come with them. You got pregnant and did your best to create a home for a fetus, then it just ceases to exist. Talking about miscarriages openly and honestly is a healing way for those who know the pain and struggle to come together and relate. Revisiting a miscarriage story is never easy, so those who have should be commended.

In her 2013 HBO documentary, "Life Is But a Dream," Beyonce opened up about a miscarriage she had before giving birth to Blue Ivy, per Us Weekly. "About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time," Beyoncé said at one point in the documentary. "And I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life." She went on to say that she and Jay-Z started picking out names for their unborn child. "I envisioned what my child would look like ... I was feeling very maternal."

But when she went back in for a checkup, the doctor couldn't find a heartbeat. In response to the loss, Beyonce did what any artist in her position would do: turn her pain into art. "I went into the studio and wrote the saddest song I've ever written in my life ... And it was the best form of therapy for me, because it was the saddest thing I've ever been through," explained Beyoncé. Although the song doesn't have a title, the fact it exists and comforted Beyoncé during such a devastating time is what matters most. As we all know now, she was able to bring her second pregnancy to term and the world got Blue Ivy.

One of the many amazing things about Michelle Obama is her candor. She has always made efforts to be relatable to her fellow Americans. In her 2018 memoir, "Becoming," she became even more relatable when she shared her miscarriage story.

While promoting her memoir that year, Obama sat down with Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America" to further discuss her miscarriage. "I felt lost and alone, and I felt like I failed. Because I didn't know how common miscarriages are," said Obama. "Because we don't talk about it. We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we're broken." She also talked about the IVF treatment she underwent so she could have her daughters. "The biological clock is real, because egg production is limited. And I realized that as I was 34 and 35," said Obama. "I think it's the worst thing that we do to each other as women, not share the truth about our bodies and how they work and how they don't work."

As Obama explained, she found that marriage counseling was a good way to navigate how she and Barack were dealing with the loss and how they could better support each other in their pregnancy journey. "I know too many young couples who struggle and think that somehow there's something wrong with them. And I want them to know that Michelle and Barack Obama, who have a phenomenal marriage and who love each other, we work on our marriage," said Michelle.

In October 2022, Jennifer Lawrence talked to Vogue about motherhood and the journey it took to get there. Lawrence shared during the interview that she had suffered not one, but two miscarriages. Her first miscarriage came when she was in her early 20s. As she told the magazine, she had every intention of getting an abortion, but the miscarriage happened first when she was alone in a hotel in Montreal. The second miscarriage was before the birth of her son Cy, but required a dilation and curettage to remove tissue from the uterus — if the tissue is left behind it can lead to an infection or further complications.

As a vocal opponent of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Lawrence said of her pregnancy with Cy, "I remember a million times thinking about it while I was pregnant. Thinking about the things that were happening to my body. And I had a great pregnancy. I had a very fortunate pregnancy. But every single second of my life was different," Lawrence told Vogue. "And it would occur to me sometimes: What if I was forced to do this?"

Chrissy Teigen's miscarriage story is a complicated one. In September 2020, Teigen and her husband shared that they had lost their son, who had already been named Jack, at 20 weeks into the pregnancy. But it wasn't just a miscarriage, it was something that ended with Teigen needing a medical procedure to remove the fetal matter in order to save her life.

"Let's just call it what it was: It was an abortion," Teigen said at the Propper Daley's "A Day of Unreasonable Conversation" summit, per The Hollywood Reporter. "An abortion to save my life for a baby that had absolutely no chance. And to be honest, I never, ever put that together until, actually, a few months ago." 

Teigen explained that it felt strange that she hadn't made sense of it or seen the procedure for what it was. But because abortion is healthcare, it's sometimes necessary to save the life of the mother when a fetus miscarries or it's clear that it won't make it to term. It's also worth noting that the U.S. has an extremely high maternal mortality rate, and it's actually double that of countries in the same socio-economic bracket. According to a 2023 study published in Scientific American, maternal mortality rates are getting worse every year, with people of color — Black women specifically — bearing the brunt. The study also found that as many as 80% of these deaths are preventable. 

In 2020, Megan Markle wrote an op-ed for The New York Times entitled, "The Losses We Share." In the piece, Markle shared the story of the miscarriage she experienced after the birth of her first child. According to Markle, after she changed the diaper of her first born, she felt a sharp cramp that was painful enough to drop her to the floor and in that moment, she knew something was very wrong. "I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second," wrote Markle.

The essay wasn't just about her loss and grief, but what it's like to suffer in silence, having included some of the tragedies of 2020 — not just the Covid losses, but that of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Markle called on people to check in on their fellow human beings despite the polarization of the time. Toward the end, Markle brought the essay back to her and others who have suffered a miscarriage.

"Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few," Markle wrote, adding that 10-20% of women will have a pregnancy end in miscarriage. "Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning," she wrote. Markle reiterated the importance of asking people how they're doing, just in case one of those people is carrying a heavy burden. After all, silence only enables stigmas.