John Legend revealed he and wife Chrissy Teigen are approaching their pregnancy with “cautious optimism” after the loss of their late son Jack.
The 43-year-old singer – who is expecting his third child with the 36-year-old actress – spoke about the “tragedy” they had previously experienced during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Friday.
It comes after Chrissy spoke openly about having a life-saving abortion – after doctors said her unborn son Jack was not viable as of September 2020.
Opening: John Legend revealed he and wife Chrissy Teigen are approaching their pregnancy with “cautious optimism” following the loss of their late son Jack
John told ITV viewers: “Whenever you lose a pregnancy there’s always cautious optimism when you’re pregnant again because you never know what could happen and you’ve lived through this tragedy of losing one.
“But everything has been great so far, the kids are excited, we’re all excited and can’t wait to welcome the new baby into the world.”
John, who is currently promoting his new album LEGEND, also addressed his relationship with Kanye West: “My career story cannot be told without Kanye’s involvement. We made a lot of great music together, I’ll always be grateful for that.
“Our friendship has definitely gone through a rough patch, but my career is what it is because we’ve worked together.”
Devastating: It comes after Chrissy opened up about having a life-saving abortion – after doctors said her unborn son Jack was not viable as of September 2020
Earlier this week, Chrissy spoke candidly about the ordeal, which she previously described as a “miscarriage.”
According to THR, Chrissy said: “Let’s just call it what it was: It was an abortion. An abortion to save my life for a baby who had absolutely no chance. And to be honest I never put this together until a few months ago.
The couple had said Jack died as a result of a partial placental abruption, in which the placenta detaches from the uterus, depriving the baby of oxygen and causing severe bleeding in the mother.
Chrissy is currently pregnant with her and John’s fourth child. They share daughter Luna Simone, six, and son Miles Theodore, four.
John also addressed his relationship with Kanye West: “My career story cannot be told without Kanye’s participation. We made a lot of great music together, I’ll always be grateful for that.”
She spoke openly about coming to terms with her abortion in 2020 while appearing at Propper Daley’s “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation” summit in Beverly Hills on Thursday.
“Two years ago, while pregnant with Jack, John and my third child, I had to make many difficult and heartbreaking decisions,” the star began.
“About halfway through it became clear he wasn’t going to survive, and neither would I without medical intervention.”
Although she had long viewed Jack’s death as a miscarriage, Chrissy said it was her husband John who helped her realize that she was, in fact, having an abortion.
The revelation came amid the Supreme Court’s shocking decision to overthrow Roe V. Wade, which protected abortion rights, last June.
Chrissy admitted it was a “shock” for her.
“I fell silent and felt weird that I didn’t get it that way. I told the world we miscarried, the world agreed we miscarried, all the headlines said it was a miscarriage.
“And I was really frustrated that I hadn’t said what it was and I felt silly that it had taken me over a year to really understand that we had an abortion,” she admitted.
Family: John and Chrissy share daughter Luna Simone, six, and son Miles Theodore, four; seen the family in April
In the final weeks of her pregnancy with Jack, Chrissy took to Instagram to share any complications.
In particular, the Cravings founder suffered from uncontrollable bleeding. She was forced to wear adult diapers and put on bed rest.
On September 30, 2020, Chrissy returned to the platform to report that despite multiple blood transfusions, doctors were unable to control her bleeding.
Expecting: Chrissy is currently pregnant with her and John’s fourth child
“We were never able to stop the bleeding and give our baby the fluids he needed, despite bagless blood transfusions. It just wasn’t enough,” she wrote, before revealing that Jack hadn’t survived.
“To our Jack – I’m so sorry that the first few moments of your life were fraught with so many complications that we couldn’t give you the home you needed to survive. We will always love you,” reads another part of Chrissy’s post.
Along with her heartbreaking text, Chrissy included a slideshow of black and white photos of herself in a hospital bed while she and John mourned the loss of their child.
One shot showed the couple crying and cradling their late son, while another showed a distraught Chrissy sitting on the edge of her hospital bed with tears streaming down her face.
Heartbreaking: On September 30, 2020, Chrissy returned to the platform to report that despite multiple blood transfusions, doctors were unable to control her bleeding
Not long after, she announced that she was unable to carry a child, writing on Instagram, “I love being pregnant so much and I’m sad I never will be again.”
In a blog post published on Medium in October 2020, Chrissy described how the partial abruption of the placenta dramatically changed the course of her pregnancy.
“By that point I had already reconciled what was going to happen: I would have an epidural and be caused to give birth to our 20-week-old boy, a boy who would never have survived in my womb (please excuse those simple ones). terms),” she wrote.
In another excerpt, she recalled the moment the doctor told her that Jack would not survive and that the pregnancy put her own life at risk as well.
“After a few nights in the hospital, my doctor told me exactly what I knew – it was time to say goodbye. He just wouldn’t survive it, and if it continues like this, maybe I won’t either.’
In honor of Jack, following Thai tradition, Chrissy and John planted a tree in their home for him.
“For us in the Thai tradition, it’s important that we always hug those we’ve lost and they’re never, ever gone.
“This tree was planted in the house, the only reason I wanted it was so Jack’s ashes could be in this soil and he could be with us all the time and grow through the beautiful leaves in this tree,” she said.
Earlier this year, Chrissy updated her fans that she’s undergoing IVF treatment – despite previously claiming she couldn’t get pregnant again.
She completed treatment in March and in August the couple confirmed they were expecting their fourth child together.
Why abortions can be life saving
Abortions are usually performed because women do not want a baby, either because their pregnancy was unplanned or unwanted.
They differ from miscarriages, which are unintentional and occur during the first 23 weeks of pregnancy.
However, in some cases, abortions are an emergency procedure needed to save the mother’s life.
In England, Scotland and Wales, where a woman’s life is in danger or the baby has a serious disability, the Abortion Act 1967 puts no time limit on access to an abortion.
Conditions that can qualify include severe infections and severe cases of preeclampsia, in which a woman develops very high blood pressure and is at risk of stroke.
Another reason it may be needed is during placental abruption, when the placenta detaches from the uterus, depriving the baby of oxygen and causing profuse bleeding in the mother.
But under the same law, if there is no risk, women can only legally terminate a pregnancy up to the 23rd week.
Abortion is considered legal if it is performed by a physician authorized by two physicians acting “in good faith” and meets at least one qualifying factor.
In the US, the picture is different following the landmark decision by the Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v Wade verdict.
This highly controversial move ended American women’s legal right to abortions, leaving it up to individual states to decide whether they are legal.
Two dozen conservative states have either introduced or are expected to introduce new abortion restrictions or bans.
That includes Georgia, which bans abortions around the sixth week of pregnancy — before many women even know they’re pregnant.