Carrie Underwood
The country star and wife to Mike Fisher said she had three miscarriages in two years, during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
“We got pregnant early 2017, and didn’t work out,” she said. Then, after suffering a second miscarriage in 2017 and a third in 2018, the star explained, “At that point, it was just kind of like, ‘Okay, like, what’s the deal? What is all of this?’”
She recently opened up to Women’s Health about the ordeal, sharing, “For my body to not be doing something it was ‘supposed to do’ was a tough pill to swallow. It reminded me I’m not in control of everything.”
Speaking candidly about the miscarriages felt like a “weight lifted off my shoulders,” she added, and showed her that “It’s not a dirty secret. It’s something many women go through.”
After giving birth to son Isaiah Michael, in 2015, Underwood welcomed son Jacob Bryan in January 2019.
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Paula Faris
During a guest appearance on The View, the television journalist opened up about why she used her third miscarriage as a teachable moment for her 12-year-old daughter.
“I’m 44. I’ve always wanted four kids — maybe because I am the youngest of four. But that was my third miscarriage,” Faris began.
After having “three healthy pregnancies,” Faris “knew what was going on” this time around with the loss, which happened over Fourth of July weekend in 2019, while the family was on vacation in Maryland.
“I brought my daughter into the restroom with me,” she recounted. “I showed her what was going on and I said, ‘I just want to let you know, Mommy is … the baby is probably no longer viable. Mommy doesn’t feel any guilt. This is normal, it happens to so many women, it’s happened to me a couple of other times. When you get pregnant, it might happen to you, honey. And I want you to know there’s nothing you did wrong.’ “
“It’s important to grieve, but it’s also important to know that this happens to so many of us,” she continued. “She’s 12. She’s the perfect child, by the way,” she said, joking, “And then I have my boys, who are savages. God has a sense of humor.”
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Christina Perri
The “A Thousand Years” singer announced on Instagram that she had suffered a miscarriage on Jan. 10. She wrote that she hoped to “help change the story & stigma around miscarriage” by sharing her experience and heartbreak with her fans.
“Today I had a miscarriage,” she began the post. “Baby was 11 weeks old, we are shocked & completely heartbroken.”
She explained that she and husband Paul Costabile — who are also parents to Carmella, 2 this month — were planning to share their pregnancy news next week, “so I feel like it’s also important to share this news too,” she wrote.
“I am so sad but not ashamed. … To all the mothers who have been here and who will be here, I see you and I love you.”
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Beyoncé Knowles Carter
After being asked by a fan if she felt slighted for not winning any awards for her visual album Lemonade and Netflix film Homecoming, the star of ELLE‘s January 2020 issue explained that her definition of success changed once she experienced pregnancy loss and became a mother.
“?? I began to search for deeper meaning when life began to teach me lessons I didn’t know I needed. Success looks different to me now. I learned that all pain and loss is in fact a gift,” Knowles Carter began. “Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else. Then I had Blue, and the quest for my purpose became so much deeper. I died and was reborn in my relationship, and the quest for self became even stronger.”
“It’s difficult for me to go backwards,” she continued. “Being ‘number one’ was no longer my priority. My true win is creating art and a legacy that will live far beyond me. That’s fulfilling.”
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Hilaria Baldwin
In November 2019, the mother of four shared on Instagram that she had suffered a second miscarriage shortly after her 20-week scan. “We are very sad to share that today we learned that our baby passed away at 4 months. We also want you to know that even though we are not ok right now, we will be,” she wrote alongside a video of herself with her daughter Carmen.
“We are so lucky with our 4 healthy babies — and we will never lose sight of this. I told Carmen and took this so I could send it to Alec. I guess this is a good way to share it with you too,” she continued in the caption, referencing her husband Alec Baldwin and their other children, sons Romeo Alejandro David, Leonardo Ángel Charles and Rafael Thomas.
The couple had announced Hilaria’s latest pregnancy in September 2019, which came five months after her first miscarriage announcement.
Back in April 2019, Baldwin shared on Instagram that she had lost her baby.
“There was no heartbeat today at my scan…so it’s over…” she captioned the post, featuring a photo with her family. “but I have some pretty strong and amazing heartbeats right here.”
“I am surrounded by such love and I feel so fortunate,” she continued. “Thank you all for listening, for your support, and for sharing your own personal stories. We are stronger together…”
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Kimberly Van Der Beek
During the November 2019 Dancing with the Stars semifinals episode, James Van Der Beek shared in his video package that “my wife Kimberly and I went through every expecting parent’s worst nightmare. We lost the baby. The little soul that we had expected to welcome into our family took a shortcut to whatever lies beyond.”
“You never know why these things happen, that’s what I’ve been telling my kids. All you know is that it brings you closer together, it breaks you open, it opens up your heart, it deepens your appreciation,” added Van Der Beek, who shares five children with Kimberly: Gwendolyn, Emilia, Annabel Leah, Olivia and Joshua. “It makes you more human.”
Kimberly also hinted at her family’s loss on Instagram, writing, “It was a TOUGH weekend. Extra thankful right now to have help with my kids. Keeping these cuties happy as can be while I replenish at home.”
The couple have been through losses before, as the actor explained on Instagram back in October 2018, when he went public with her pregnancy.
“We decided to put ourselves out there — not knowing what we’d find — in an effort to chip away at any senseless stigma around this experience and to encourage people who might be going through it to open themselves up to love & support from friends and family when they need it most,” he added.
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Lauren Sorrentino
During Good Morning America‘s Strahan Sara & Keke, the Sorrentinos revealed that the night Mike was released from federal prison, Lauren had gotten pregnant.
“The night he came home we actually conceived,” Lauren said. “And then at about six-and-a-half, seven weeks I miscarried.”
Calling the miscarriage “heart-wrenching,” Lauren remembered feeling grateful for her pregnancy.
“When I found out we were pregnant I felt like this is why we went through all these challenges for years and that this was our time and it was our blessing,” she said. “It was hard. It was really difficult.”
As for why she opened up, Lauren said, “I didn’t want to hold this in. I wanted to share it for other people going through it and just be honest so I can kind of heal through the process.”
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Gabrielle Ruiz
The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend actress shared her story on Instagram to let others know that they aren’t alone.
“This morning at 3:20am, I had a miscarriage. When our OB-GYN gave us the news, I went through all the emotions; shocked, numb, confused, practical, overwhelmed, scared, sad, sarcastic, relieved, frustrated, even the thought, ‘Oh, this couldn’t be happening to US,’ ” Ruiz wrote on Nov. 1, 2019. “That very same day was also Oct 15th, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day on social media. The stories you all shared gave me strength, understanding and the feeling that I truly wasn’t alone and that this all wasn’t in any way my fault.”
“So, I feel it is my duty to continue the transparency in sharing the secret story-telling of miscarriages,” Ruiz continued. “Because no one really talks about it as much as we should. I now have the opportunity to tell you that you, my dear, are not alone.”
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Shawn Johnson
The former Olympic gymnast spoke about losing her first pregnancy on a November 2019 episode of Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner‘s Hot Marriage. Cool Parents podcast.
“I felt so sad and guilty that I had done something wrong to lose this child,” the mother-to-be said.
The athlete and her husband, Andrew East, previously revealed in October 2017 that Johnson had a miscarriage shortly after the couple learned they were expecting.
Johnson went as far as blaming her childhood and teenage years, when she was actively competing in gymnastics, as a possible cause for her loss.
“That was always my fear — that I had put my body through so much and done so many extreme diets and delayed puberty and all of these things, that it would cause me to have trouble getting pregnant,” she said.
However, “I had had testing done and blood work done and [doctors] said everything was good, which was a good reassurance. But again, at that time of miscarriage, I couldn’t help but think I did enough damage to my body at a young age that it was almost, like, payback.”
The couple shared that the support they received from those around them as well as their personal faith helped them heal.
“No matter what you go through, you will always come out of it,” said Johnson. “And I think if you believe in Him and have faith in Him, you’ll come out stronger than you were before.”
On Oct. 29, 2019, the couple welcomed a healthy daughter named Drew Hazel.
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Meghan McCain
The View co-host recalled the conflicting feelings she felt after losing her baby girl during an October 2019 episode of Good Morning America.
“I’ve always been agnostic about having kids,” McCain said. “I don’t feel naturally maternal. I don’t feel this natural draw to motherhood. And I think my response and how sad I felt afterward surprised me.”
McCain, who is married to Ben Domenech, revealed in July 2019 that she had been pregnant with a daughter, but subsequently had a miscarriage. She called the loss a “horrendous experience” and added that she “would not wish it upon anyone.”
“Nobody talks about this kind of stuff,” McCain continued. “The only experience I’ve ever had on TV when women are pregnant is streamers and excitement, which is wonderful and amazing, but I just think there’s a lot of other women out there who have my experience and you are not alone.”
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Mireya Villarreal
The Texas-based CBS News reporter wrote an essay about suffering multiple miscarriages while on the road covering stories. Her first occurred while covering the California wildfires in 2017.
“I questioned whether this was really happening. Was I really having a miscarriage in the middle of a wildfire with no one around to help me?” she wrote. “The assignment lasted another day before the fire retreated into the forest. I bled for five more days and saw my OB-GYN two more times to confirm I’d lost the baby.”
After the miscarriage, Villarreal detailed how angry she felt and the point at which she knew she needed to get help to work through her feelings.
“Through therapy, I’ve realized that grieving the loss of this child was important, no matter what stage of the pregnancy I was in,” she wrote. “But forgiving myself is just as important and something I’m still working on.”
The reporter is now a mom to a 3-year-old son and plans to continue to try to have more children. She’s since had two more miscarriages, but doesn’t plan on giving up her dreams to expand her family.
“Someone recently told me, ‘Why can’t you just be happy? Some women never get to have kids. Can’t you be happy with what you have? Isn’t it enough?’ ” she wrote. “Here’s the thing: No, it’s not enough. And it’s okay to say that. It’s okay to want more for whatever reasons you may have.”
She added: “I want to have more of that joy in my life. … And I would go through a hundred more miscarriages if it meant having another child like my 3-year-old.”
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Renee Morrison
Matthew Morrison’s wife Renee shared that she experienced a pregnancy loss after she and her husband conceived their second child.
“I found out [I was pregnant] at four weeks and began the cycle of miscarriage on my sixth week, and that’s a whole conversation that I would love to have but the point of today is to tell you how meditation helped guide me through this journey and this experience,” Renee said on Instagram.
Meditation has helped Renee “rise above those conditioned thoughts” and “surrender to them and see if you want to accept that as your authentic thought,” she explained.
“That’s what I’m here to help us accomplish through sharing my story, my vulnerability, and just to say that I see you. I see you and I feel you, and we are Members Only,” Renee offered, imploring others who have gone through similar experiences “to step back from the fear we are putting ourselves in and the disconnection and the shame.”
“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I don’t feel sorry for myself, and to go through these experiences and to get pregnant and to be alive … to be alive is an accomplishment,” she added.
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Whitney Port
The Hills: New Beginnings star confided in her costar Kaitlynn Carter that she and her husband Tim Rosenman lost their second child. She told Carter she had “really strong symptoms” just like in her first pregnancy that disappeared “all of a sudden,” leading to a “whole process” of emotional upheaval after she found out she was miscarrying.
“The grief is all-consuming. It’s all you can think about,” Port said in her confessional. “It’s like a death is happening inside your body, and you’re also supposed to show up for your child that you have and you can’t really be sad in front of them, and you’re just confused if your feelings are okay [or] if they’re too dramatic.”
Port and Rosenman revealed the sad news during a July 2019 episode of her podcast With Whit, and the two appeared together on The Hills: New Beginnings, where they talked about the experience more.
“And I still just have so much stress about the second child because I know that you really want more children, and I don’t know that I do,” she said. “I feel like I would be disappointing you if we didn’t.”
“If it never is the right time, it won’t happen. And if it becomes the right time or our feelings change, we can keep having this conversation as we go. Seriously,” Rosenman told her.
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Shay Mitchell
The new mom opened up about losing her first baby in 2018 at 14 weeks in the premiere episode of her pregnancy series Almost Ready, titled “Keeping a Secret.”
“The first time that I was pregnant last year, Matte and I hadn’t been planning. [But] it happened and we were really excited about it,” the actress said of herself and partner Babel, whom she began dating about three years ago.
“I was like 14 weeks,” Mitchell continued. “At that point, I had no idea, the percentage of miscarriages. When it happened, I was just completely blindsided by it.”
The then-pregnant actress continued, “So of course I’m super happy, but I still feel for the one that I lost.”
“I know other women and other friends of mine who’ve gone through a way harder journey,” Mitchell shared. “It’s just really tough because you feel broken, as a woman, and that’s not a great feeling.”
By October 2019, the couple welcomed their new baby girl Atlas Noa into the world.
“Never letting go,” Mitchell captioned a photo of herself holding her child’s hand.
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Alanis Morissette
The soon-to-be mom of three reflected on the journey she’s had to expanding her family in an interview with SELF for the June 2019 digital issue.
“Between Ever and Onyx there were some false starts,” Morissette told the outlet, referring to the two children she shares with husband Mario “Souleye” Treadway. “I always wanted to have three kids, and then I’ve had some challenges and some miscarriages so I just didn’t think it was possible.”
The singer talked about how she “felt so much grief and fear” while trying to expand her family, explaining, “I chased and prayed for pregnancy and learned so much about my body and biochemistry and immunity and gynecology through the process. It was a torturous learning and loss-filled and persevering process.”
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Kate Mara
Prior to giving birth to her and husband Jamie Bell’s baby girl, Mara revealed she had a miscarriage at eight weeks on Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast.
“She couldn’t see the embryo, but she could see the pregnancy sac,” the actress said of the ultrasound technician at her first sonogram appointment. “My doctor at the time said, ‘Maybe you are off with your timing.’ I was like, ‘I am so good with timing.’ ”
“I think the next day we went back in and [the doctor] said I clearly had a blighted ovum, which I didn’t know what that was at the time. I’ve learned what that is. So she said, ‘Basically, you’ve miscarried, but it just hasn’t left your body yet.’ ”
By the time Mara fully miscarried, she was three months pregnant. “Everything just took so much time, by the time it was all over. It just dragged out forever,” she said.
Once the couple was expecting again, they nervously attended their ultrasound appointment and found that their baby was completely healthy. By May 2019, the couple welcomed their daughter.
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Hope Solo
The former U.S Women’s National Soccer Team goalkeeper detailed her story in the July 2019 issue of Elle. She explained that while running for president of the United States Soccer Federation (USFF), she miscarried and later learned that she was pregnant with twins.
“The doctor said I was hours from dying,” she told Elle. “They ended up having to remove my fallopian tube.”
Since that experience, Solo has not given up on having children and has begun the process of in vitro fertilization.
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Dylan Dreyer
During April 2019’s National Infertility Awareness Week, Today‘s Dreyer shared that she had suffered a miscarriage while pregnant with her and husband Brian Fichera’s second child.
” ‘I think I lost the baby,’ ” Dreyer tearfully recalled of what she told her husband after she noticed “massive bleeding” five weeks after getting a positive pregnancy test, to which Fichera replied, ” ‘You didn’t lose the baby. It’s your body doing what it needs to do. You didn’t do anything wrong.’ ”
Her loss was confirmed after a visit to the doctor, which made things extra hard returning to work, where she had to mask what was going on.
“I’m devastated, and I have to go to work on the Today show and be happy and smiling and pretend like nothing’s wrong,” she said, adding that she did eventually tell her co-workers what had happened.
After revealing that she had her son Calvin after only trying to conceive one or two times, Dreyer admitted that the difficulties involving her second attempt at having another child, in addition to learning she had a low egg count, surprised her — she “didn’t know secondary infertility was a thing.”
The Today weather correspondent went on to say that she was starting the IVF process.
“God has a plan,” Dreyer said. “And I pray every night, ‘Just let me stay out of your way — you do what is best for us, and we’ll figure that out.’ ”
However, days before starting IVF, her doctor called to tell her she was pregnant again — her baby boy is due in January.
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Pink
In an interview with USA Today, the singer decoded the lyrics to her song “Happy” and revealed that she wrote, “Since I was 17, I’ve always hated my body / and it feels like my body’s hated me” about a miscarriage she had as a teenager.
“The reason I said [that] is because I’ve always had this very tomboy, very strong gymnast body, but actually at 17 I had a miscarriage,” Pink told the outlet. “And I was going to have that child.”
“But when that happens to a woman or a young girl, you feel like your body hates you and like your body is broken, and it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do,” she continued.
Pink has had a number of miscarriages since, and said she writes these songs as a way to deal with the “painful” experiences.
“I think it’s important to talk about what you’re ashamed of, who you really are and the painful s—. I’ve always written that way.”
With husband Carey Hart, the singer is mom to daughter Willow and son Jameson.
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Lauren Kitt Carter
Before the birth of her second child, a daughter named Saoirse Reign, Carter suffered a miscarriage with another baby girl at three months.
“God give us peace during this time. I really was looking forward to meeting her after 3 months. I’m heartbroken,” her husband Nick tweeted on Sept. 10, 2018.
Carter shared an ultrasound photo on March 8, 2019 — “what would have been her due date” — in honor of International Women’s Day, praising her fellow women for being “badass.”
“If you are struggling to start a family or have had a loss this post is for you, you’re not alone and there is always hope,” she wrote. “Thankfully I have access to great Dr’s and healthcare professionals but sadly many women don’t so in honor of our baby girl and #internationalwomensday I am making a donation to @everymomcounts in hopes of aiding future parents from preventable illnesses and in some cases death.”
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Lauren Duggar
In PEOPLE’s exclusive look at Counting On, Lauren and Josiah Duggar revealed that they suffered a miscarriage in October 2018.
“I wasn’t feeling well,” recalled Lauren. “I was cramping really, really bad, which was quite strange because I normally don’t. I was thinking maybe I had something that had gluten in it. It was late at night and I went to use the restroom and there was the baby. Gone. I couldn’t believe it and I was hoping it wasn’t true.”
Fortunately in August 2019, less than one year later, Lauren shared on Instagram that she was expecting again and in November 2019, the Duggars welcomed their daughter Bella Milagro.
“Look who’s here! ? Bella Milagro Duggar was born November 8th, 2019 at 4:24 pm, weighing 6lbs 5oz and 18.5 inches long,” she wrote. “Our hearts are so full! We are so thankful for God blessings us with such a healthy baby girl!”
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Jade Roper Tolbert
The reality star shared in a February 2019 Instagram post that she and her now-husband Tanner had conceived while filming Bachelor in Paradise, but sadly lost the baby. Tolbert said she had “been keeping this weight for a long time” but was ready to tell the world as she was then-pregnant with son Brooks Easton.
“Being pregnant with our second child, all these emotions have been on the surface for me,” she wrote. “I just felt it was time to get it out of me and share our story and honor our baby.”
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Morgan Goodwin
The professional hurdler shared with PEOPLE that she and her husband Marquise Goodwin, a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, have lost three babies, but they’re still determined to become parents.
“I am not giving up on creating my family. This is my purpose,” said Morgan. “I feel as though one of my life’s purposes is to build a family of Goodwin kids running around. I’m not going out without a fight.”
The couple lost their twin boys in November 2018 at 19 weeks, four days gestation. Nearly a year earlier, they lost their premature son at 19 weeks. The two also experienced a pregnancy loss after Morgan miscarried following “a slip-up” in college.
“I’m going to fight until I get what I want. I believe that,” Morgan added. “I believe that God is going to bless us.”
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Claire Holt
In an interview with Mini magazine, the actress talked about the miscarriage she had before getting pregnant for a second time.
“Our journey certainly hasn’t been an easy one,” the then-pregnant Holt told the outlet. She explained that, after the loss, “I felt broken and ashamed. Because I experienced such intense grief, I found it very difficult to process things and move on.”
“The miscarriage was the most difficult thing I had ever faced, but it brought my husband and I so much closer and we have really grown as a result of it,” Holt said. “We are also so much more grateful for the little boy we are about to welcome into our lives.”
Since the interview, Holt and her husband Andrew Joblon have welcomed a son named James.
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Beverley Mitchell
The actress shared in an emotional Thanksgiving Day blog post that she had learned she was pregnant with twins, but a few weeks later, “our new dream of our growing family came crashing down; we had a miscarriage.”
“My heart could not make sense of it,” she wrote. “I never really considered that I would miscarry being that I had already had two healthy pregnancies. 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.”
She pointed out, “Most people who are sharing their story, we aren’t looking for anything, just the opportunity to share their story. It is with sharing it that the healing begins, the acceptance that it happened. It is when you ignore it or pretend that it never happened that you cause more pain. Dismissing it almost makes it worse.”
“We still have dreams of growing our family but now more than ever, I look at Kenzie, Hutton and Michael and just feel full,” Mitchell continued. “If we are blessed with more children they will fill us with more love, but for now, I look at my family and I am GRATEFUL, BLESSED and THANKFUL.”
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Jana Kramer
The country singer — who has daughter Jolie and son Jace with husband Mike Caussin — got candid about how she’s coped with experiencing multiple miscarriages in an emotional Instagram post from February 2019.
“A year ago today, I got the news that I had yet again another miscarriage,” Kramer, who has had a total of five losses, began. “It was after an IVF cycle. The embryo was a boy and it was the last embryo we had.”
“I was devastated. I felt like I failed as a [woman], and as a wife. IVF wasn’t an option again because it’s too expensive so I felt defeated,” she continued.
“To all the [women] out there who have suffered miscarriages and [are] still waiting for your rainbow baby, you are not alone,” she finished. “And I know nothing I say will make the yearning or pain any better but if anything know you’re not alone and that I was in the same spot a year ago. I pray you will see your silver lining too.”
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Teddi Mellencamp
During a social media Q&A with fans in November 2018, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star said that although she would like to have more children, it likely won’t happen.
“Are you going to have another cute adorable happy sweet child?” a fan asked.
“I would love to more than anything. Most likely no though,” Mellencamp wrote on her Instagram Story. “I had multiple miscarriages before Cruz and the IVF process was very hard for me and I am not sure I can go through it again.”
However, the star added that she feels “very blessed with the kiddos” she shares with husband Edwin Arroyave.
In addition to their son Cruz, the couple are parents to daughter Slate, while Arroyave is also a father to daughter Isabella from a previous relationship.
In the fall of 2019, however, Mellencamp was surprised to learn she and Arroyave were expecting again — this time, naturally.
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