Chrissy Teigen is getting even more candid about a topic that many consider to still be a taboo – infertility.
The model and cookbook author suffered the tragic loss of her third child, Jack, when she was just 20 weeks pregnant with him. The mom-of-two, who’s been open with her struggles with infertility, has talked about wanting to grow her family, but has since shared that she has been told that she can no longer safely carry another child.
In a recent interview with Refinery 29, she said she didn’t realize how little the infertility issue was talked about – until she started sharing her story.
“I’ve been open about so much throughout my life, and so [infertility] didn’t seem like a crazy thing to talk about. But the more I spoke about it, the more I realized how taboo it was,” Chrissy told the outlet. “But quietly, I was getting DMs and letters — like handwritten letters — and emails. I realized that people didn’t think they could talk about it on an open forum, but they were happy to do it privately. I realized people don’t feel comfortable talking about this.”
To support that cause, she recently helped launch Fertility Out Loud – a new campaign designed to help those struggling to start or grow their family.
As for how she’s coping with the loss of her third child, Chrissy shared that she and hubby John Legend are yet to decide when and where to spread Jack’s ashes.
“In the Thai culture, you’re very open about death and speaking about death and loss and when someone passes, they’re still very much a part of your life,” Chrissy, who’s of Thai descent, explained. “I’ve kind of been bouncing back and forth between that Thai tradition of keeping your loved one close but also wanting to release him and wanting him to be a part of the Earth again — just spiritually wanting him to be a part of the universe again.”
Music, however, has been instrumental in their healing as a family – Chrissy revealed that John is working on the song that touches on their family’s emotional journey.
“Music for us is so healing, and I think it’s going to be a really beautiful summer and year coming up, with being able to release grief and loss. It’s going to be really transformative and amazing,” she shared.
Chrissy also appeared on Today, where she also talked about an emotional encounter that helped her realize how much sharing her story has impacted other women going through something similar.
“There was one moment that really struck me, and that was being at the grocery store and somebody just quietly laying flowers in my cart,” she explained. “And then I realized that there’s so many women that don’t get this kind of attention because you just don’t know that it happened to them.”
“They’re living through this privately and quietly, and it just was a big moment for me where I realized that I could be this person that people could see and look up to as somebody that had a platform, where their stories were going to be recognized,” she continued. “For me, that was a very defining moment.”
She also shared that they still want to expand their family – and are looking at other options available.
“There’s so many different ways to make your dream happen now,” she shared. “Coming to terms with the fact that I can’t carry again has been something really tough, and I’ve agonized over it, because to me, it’s when I’m at my happiest. I loved being pregnant, and the fact I got to do it twice, I think was miraculous enough.”
“There’s a way to have that beautiful child whether it’s your own or whether you adopt,” she added. “I think the more we share our stories, the more people will realize that they connect with one of those stories. … There’s something so beautiful about that.”
