Tiffany Chen, partner of actor Robert de Niro, said she had a “really easy” pregnancy with the couple’s child – but shortly after giving birth in April, she began to experience troubling symptoms on her face.
“It was like everything was falling apart. It’s like my face is melting in on itself,” she told CBS Mornings. “And then, a week after the birth, it all came true.”
An MRI revealed Chen suffered from Bell’s palsy, an unexplained medical condition that results in severe muscle weakness or facial paralysis.
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Chen said De Niro has been kind and supportive throughout her health struggles.
“He was trying to say he didn’t see a difference, he didn’t see a change,” Chen said in an exclusive interview with CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King. “He said, ‘No. … You look great.’ He says, “Maybe you look a little strict.” And I’m like, “Really?” My whole face melted into itself. But he was very strong, very supportive.”
The rare condition affects only about 40,000 people in the United States each year. According to the National Institutes of Health, pregnant women appear to be three times more likely to develop Bell’s palsy, particularly in the third trimester and early postpartum period.
Chen said she experienced a sharp pain behind her left ear right after the cesarean delivery and later commented that her face “looked weirder.” Doctors told her it was probably fluid buildup after childbirth, but by the time she got home from the hospital, her facial symptoms worsened. After calling her doctor, Chen was immediately taken back to the hospital where “everything fell off,” including her lower lip, making it difficult for her to speak.
“I got to a point where it was just hanging and I had to hold it,” Chen said. “And in order to speak, I had to hold my chin and manipulate my lower lip to make certain sounds. I couldn’t say ‘Bob’.”
Sudden facial paralysis is the main symptom of Bell’s palsy, said Dr. Babak Azizzadeh, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon who treats people with facial paralysis and Bell’s palsy at the Facial Paralysis Institute, which he founded. However, it usually only affects one side of the face.
However, both sides were affected by Chen’s face – something Azizzadeh described as “a very rare circumstance”.
He said it’s unclear why pregnant people are at higher risk of contracting the condition, but doctors theorized it could be related to increased fluid activity or changes in the body’s immune system.
Treatment often includes steroids, which Azizzadeh called the “most critical treatment,” and antiviral drugs. Chen said she has been on steroids and also relied on acupuncture. She also wore sunglasses while speaking to CBS Mornings.
Azizzadeh said Bell’s palsy doesn’t affect sensation in the eyes, but it does affect an important facial muscle that helps the eye close. This can lead to dry, sensitive eyes and problems blinking.
Chen’s symptoms have improved and she said she is unaware of her appearance but hates not being able to smile at her daughter, Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro.
“I couldn’t kiss her. That unsettled me,” Chen said. “The thing I was worried about was, ‘What if it didn’t get better?’ Would my child make fun of having an odd looking mother? That’s the only time vanity comes into play. That’s how it affects the child.”
Chen said it was frustrating to be publicly criticized for her appearance. When the couple announced the birth of their daughter, headlines initially focused on De Niro’s age, but soon people speculated that her facial expression was due to the couple being tired or unhappy.
“I say, ‘Mind your own business a little. And when you want to say something, don’t always connect what’s in your head to the story. You don’t know us. You don’t know what is.’ “It happened in someone’s life,” Chen said. “People said all kinds of nasty things about my looks and my anger. And I just thought, ‘This is sort of the happiest time of my life.’”
These comments helped her tell her story publicly.
“I think in a way this is something private for all of us, especially when you’ve experienced it. But it shouldn’t be so private that people lock themselves in their homes,” Chen said. “And women shouldn’t feel hurt, embarrassed or just hurt by it.”
Bell’s palsy changed Chen’s life — but so did her daughter.
“She made life more fun,” Chen said, joking that the baby already has a favorite De Niro movie, The One in the Delivery Room, in which she stars.
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Kerry Breen