Pregnancy loss is common. There are estimates that 20 percent of all known pregnancies will end in miscarriage, according to Tommy’s.org. That means that 1 in 4 women. For Black women, that likelihood is even higher. Black women are 43 percent more likely to experience miscarriage than their white counterparts, according to Tommy’s.
But as often as pregnancy loss is happening, many women don’t speak openly about these experiences. Carrying life is already a sensitive, precious subject. Losing it, can leave women feeling alone and like they may have done something wrong.
Of course, that is not the case. Thankfully, more and more women are sharing their stories in hopes of building community and support for other mother’s who have suffered a loss. That includes celebrities who’ve had miscarriages and shared their experiences on a major platform. Some even sharing how they moved forward after the painful loss.
Beyoncé
Beyoncé may be the mother to “50-11 kids” now. But she endured a real journey to get there. Beyoncé had several miscarriages, including one before the birth of her eldest daughter Blue Ivy. She first shared this news in her documentary “Life is But a Dream.”
Years later, in an interview with Elle, she shared that the experience helped her to put things into perspective.
“Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else,” Beyoncé told the publication.
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Union shared that she’s had more miscarriages than she could confidently count in her journey to bring daughter Kaavia into the world. Union was diagnosed with adenomyosis. While getting pregnant was not a problem, remaining pregnant was. Eventually, her doctor suggested she and husband Dwyane Wade use a surrogate. When they learned that the surrogate had become pregnant, Union was excited but also grieved for the children she had lost.
“…when I miscarried in the first trimester, I never thought I had lost a baby baby. I had never let it count. Looking at the screen [at Kaavia’s embryo], I understood how many potential babies I had lost. That’s why I was crying. A floodgate of grief and sorrow overcame me, threatened to drown me,” Union wrote in an essay for “Time.”
Kierra Sheard Kelly
Gospel singer Kierra Sheard Kelly and her husband Jordan Kelly are expecting their first child, a daughter. And while the couple are ecstatic, there were some dark days before this pregnancy. Sheard-Kelly shared that she suffered two miscarriages that “took me near death’s doors,” according to “Art Soul Radio.” Thankfully, the singer was able to rely on her faith and the support of her husband.
“We are here seeing our prayers answered. I’ve felt the presence of God in my womb and it’s been one of the most promising moments I’ve had in my life,”Sheard-Kelly said.
Whitney Houston
If you’ve taken just a cursory look at Whitney Houston’s life, you know that it was not an easy one. It was even more complicated by the loss of two pregnancies. Houston spoke about one of those experiences during an interview with Barbara Walters.
“I had a miscarriage during the filming of ‘The Bodyguard,'” Whitney explained. “It was very painful, emotionally and physically. It was something that I would have liked to have said myself. But they didn’t give me an opportunity. I was back on the set the next day. And it’s over. But I have Bobbi Kristina one year later and I am blessed.”
In 1996, she had another, according to the “Tampa Bay Times.” At 33, she miscarried and canceled one of her concerts to recover in her New Jersey home.
Aja Naomi King
In 2021, actress Aja Naomi King shared via Instagram, that she was expecting a child. As she spoke about the joy and excitement of having a child, she acknowledged the fear after suffering two miscarriages.
“This is my beautiful little rainbow baby. I suffered two miscarriages and even now trying to capture what it felt like in words is simply absurd to me because I will never have [enough] language for it,” King wrote.
King added that her baby’s kicks were constant reassurance that her gift would remain.
CeCe Peniston
Singer CeCe Peniston first opened up about her pregnancy losses on TV One’s “Unsung.” She shared that she suffered from ectopic pregnancies.
“It was five [miscarriages]. All with the same person…—the depression and the sadness that goes with that..it was very hard…I really wanted a child and God just said, ‘Hey, I got another mission for you,’” Peniston said during an interview with Vlad TV:
Tiffany Haddish
In her memoir, “The Last Black Unicorn,” Haddish opened up about her abusive marriage. She wrote that at one point, things turned physical. The abuse was so severe, Haddish, bloodied and bruised, was taken to the hospital. Her husband was arrested. The next day, Haddish learned that she’d had a miscarriage. She didn’t even know she was expecting. Later, Haddish would say that she wanted to adopt a child. But in 2021, she said those plans are on hold.