Celebrity Mothers Who Welcomed Rainbow Babies After Pregnancy Loss

Moms such as Carrie Underwood, Beyoncé and Nicole Kidman have spoken about their pregnancy loss. Here are their stories, in honor of Mother's Day and Bereaved Mother's Day.

By Corinne Heller May 09, 2021 2:00 AMTags
Watch: Carrie Underwood Reveals She Had 3 Miscarriages in Past 2 Years

After the storm, there can be a rainbow.

Millions of women around the world have waged secret, silent and lengthy battles with infertility. Many have suffered IVF failures, miscarriages or other forms of pregnancy loss. Some of them, including celebrities such as Carrie Underwood, Beyoncé, Céline Dion, Nicole KidmanMichelle Obama, and Shawn Johnson-East have gone public with their struggles. Inspired by other women who have done the same, they've, in turn, inspired others to share their stories as well.

Some women have spoken about their grief while deep in the painful process of trying to become first-time mothers or welcome an additional child. Others have felt more comfortable being vulnerable only after bringing home their rainbow babies.

And for many women, the traumatic stress of struggling for so long and of undergoing the horrific rollercoaster that is infertility—so many highs, so many crushing lows and countless tears—remains forever.

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Stars Open Up About Pregnancy Loss

In honor of Mother's Day, and last weekend's Bereaved Mother's Day, here are their stories. There is hope.

Madisson Hausburg

The Siesta Key star and husband Ismael "Ish" Soto welcomed daughter Sunday Christina Soto in February 2024, more than two years after their son Elliot was delivered stillborn.

Rebecca Zamolo

The YouTube star announced in March 2022 that she had given birth to her and husband Matt Slays' first child, a baby girl named Zadie Hope. She had previously suffered two pregnancy losses during a harrowing IVF journey.

Michelle Branch

The "Everything" and "All You Wanted" singer and wife of The Black KeysPatrick Carney announced in August 2021 that she was pregnant again with her third child. The previous December, Michelle said on Instagram that she had suffered her first miscarriage.

Carrie Underwood

The Grammy winner suffered from secondary infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss before welcoming her and husband Michael Fisher's second son, Jacob Bryan Fisher, in 2019.

In August 2018, she announced that she was pregnant with a sibling for eldest son Isaiah Michael Fisher, born in 2015. A month later, in September 2018, Carrie revealed on CBS Sunday Morning that front the start of 2017, she suffered three miscarriages before conceiving Jacob.

She said that before a doctor's appointment, after what she thought was a fourth miscarriage, she sobbed and prayed harder than ever. 

"I was like, 'Why on Earth do I keep getting pregnant if I can't have a kid? Like, what is this? Shut the door. Like, do something. Either shut the door or let me have a kid,'" she said. "And for the first time, I feel like I actually I told God how I felt...I went to the doctor to confirm another miscarriage. And they told me everything was great! And I was like, 'You heard me.' Not that He hasn't in the past. But maybe, I don't know, He heard me."

In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Carrie reflected on her past losses after welcoming her rainbow baby.

"I will always mourn those children, those lives that were a shooting star, a breath of smoke," she said, "but I have Jacob, and he is incredible, he is the sweetest little baby. At the time it was awful, and it still hurts, but it's kind of like OK, I have this."

Beyoncé

The pop queen and and husband Jay-Z share three rainbow babies: Daughter Blue Ivy Carter, born in 2012 and twins Rumi Carter and Sir Carter, born in 2017.

In her 2013 HBO documentary Life Is But a Dream, Beyonce recalled finding out she had a missed miscarriage, in which no symptoms are identified before an ultrasound or doppler reveals the heartbreaking discovery.

"Literally, the week before, I went to the doctor. Everything was fine," she said. "But there was no heartbeat."

Beyonce poured her heart and grief into her work, writing and recording the 2013 ballad "Heartbeat."

"I went into the studio and wrote the saddest song I've ever written in my life," the singer said in the documentary. "It was the best form of therapy for me because it was a saddest thing I've ever been through."

Beyonce later told Oprah Winfrey on Oprah's Next Chapter, "I felt like there are so many couples that go through that and it was a big part of my story."

Her experience also influenced her next pregnancy. She continued, "It's one of the reasons I did not share I was pregnant the second time [with Blue Ivy], because you didn't know what's going to happen. That was hard because all of my family, my friends knew and we celebrated. It was hard. I'm not the only person who goes through this. So many people go through this and in the end, I have my daughter, and there is hope and I feel so fortunate."

The singer said she lived in fear during her pregnancy with Blue Ivy. "But my doctor told me that I was completely healthy and don't be crazy and paranoid and to live my life," she said, "and that's what I did."

In 2019, Beyoncé said in a Q&A in ELLE magazine, "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. 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."

Kara Keough Bosworth

In April 2021, the Real Housewives of Orange County alum and husband Kyle Bosworth welcomed son Vaughn Mack Bosworth, almost exactly a year after their second child and first son, McCoy Casey Bosworth, died shortly after being born. Kara had revealed her pregnancy with her rainbow baby less than a week before announcing Vaughn's birth. He joins big sister Decker Kate Bosworth, born in 2016.

"Last year on April 12th, we held McCoy for the last time," Kara wrote on Instagram on April 12, 2021. "Remembering those moments will haunt me forever. Feeling robbed and grateful today as I also remember the moment Vaughn landed on my chest. Not sure I've ever experienced happiness like that. That journey from our darkest day to the brightest hasn't been easy. But we kept going. When people would say, 'I can't imagine what you're going through,' I tried to ignore that I'm living the unimaginable, and instead I focused on the fact that I'm 'going' through it."

She continued, "It isn't stagnant. It's movement. We're headed in a direction. So we kept going. And when people would ask, 'How are you doing?' I'd reply, 'I'm doing.'  Because sometimes, that's enough. In my case, that was everything. When I'd get frenzied in my grief, my doula @4thtrimesterfitnessmethod would remind me to just do the next thing. I'm so glad the 'next thing' was you, Vaughn Mack. You're not the next best thing; you're the best next thing. You're not a replacement; you're an extension. Thank you for making this April 12th so much better than the last, sweet boy."

Shawn Johnson-East

The retired Olympic gymnast suffered a miscarriage in 2017 and documented her and husband Andrew East's painful loss in a YouTube video. In November 2019, Shawn gave birth to their rainbow baby, daughter Drew Hazel East. A little more than a year later, the star announced she was pregnant again, revealing in March 2021 that she and Andrew were expecting a son.

Even amid so much happiness, she still carries those worried, telling E! News in April that learning she was expecting Drew "was absolutely terrifying."

The first time she learned she was pregnant, she continued, "It was, like, the greatest day of my life. The second time I found out I was pregnant, I was so afraid that I couldn't celebrate it because it wouldn't last that it almost stripped all the joy out of it for me for awhile."

After her miscarriage, like many before her, Shawn found solace in the online community of women who expressed empathy and shared their own stories of pregnancy loss. Just remembering she wasn't alone helped ease some of that grief.

"I've had friends ask me, you know, what could they have said or what could they say to other friends?" Shawn said. "And, honestly, that's hard because there's nothing that makes it okay. I think just, especially as a community of people, having someone tell you, 'It's okay. And you're going to get through it,' is probably the best."

Céline Dion

The pop superstar struggled to conceive before welcoming her and now-late husband René Angélil's son René-Charles Angélil in 2001. She then suffered from secondary infertility as well.

In 2008, she told Oprah Winfrey that she would love to have another child, calling René-Charles their "miracle baby."

"I always keep a little window open and say, 'Listen, I've been blessed so much in my life, if I do have a child, I'm lucky," she said on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

She later went through six rounds of IVF and a miscarriage before giving birth to fraternal twin sons, Nelson Angélil and Eddy Angélil, in 2010.

Lisa Ling

In 2010, the TV journalist revealed on The View that she suffered a missed miscarriage when she was seven weeks pregnant.

"I felt more like a failure than I'd felt in a very long time," she said. "When I heard the doctor say there was no heartbeat, it was like bam, like a knife through the heart."

In 2013, Lisa gave birth to her and husband Paul Song's rainbow baby, Jett Ling Song. They welcomed another baby girl, Ray Ling Song, in 2016.

Michelle Obama

The former First Lady revealed in her 2018 memoir Becoming that she suffered a miscarriage before becoming a mom. She underwent IVF to conceive her and former President Barack Obama's two daughters, Malia Obama, born in 1998, and Sasha Obama, born in 2001.

"What nobody tells you is that miscarriage happens all the time, to more women than you'd ever guess, given the relative silence around it," Michelle wrote in her book. "I learned this only after I mentioned that I'd miscarried to a couple of friends, who responded by heaping me with love and support and also their own miscarriage stories."

Nicole Kidman

During the actress' 11-year marriage to Tom Cruise, which ended in 2001, she suffered the loss of an embryo through an ectopic pregnancy, a life-threatening condition in which a pregnancy occurs outside the uterus and must be terminated.

"I know the yearning. That yearning. It's a huge, aching yearning. And the loss! The loss of a miscarriage is not talked about enough. That's massive grief to certain women," Nicole told Tatler magazine in 2018. "There's an enormous amount of pain and an enormous amount of joy on the other side of it. The flipside of going through so much yearning and pain to get there is the feeling of 'Ahhhh!' when you have the child.'"

During their marriage, Nicole and Tom adopted daughter Isabella Cruise, born in 1992, and son Connor Cruise, born in 1995. Nicole married Keith Urban in 2006 and gave birth to daughter Sunday Rose Kidman Urban in 2008. In 2010, the couple welcomed daughter Faith Margaret Kidman Urban through a surrogate.

In 2014, Nicole publicly expressed a wish to expand their family. "I mean, I hope every month that I'm pregnant, so there we go. But I never am," she told Australian radio station KIIS 1065. "I would be jumping for joy if I was. It won't happen. No! I'm 47, it won't happen."

 

Catelynn Lowell

In 2017, the Teen Mom OG star suffered a miscarriage and then underwent treatment for depression after experiencing suicidal thoughts. At the time, she and husband Tyler Baltierra were raising daughter Novalee Reign Baltierra, born in 2015, six years after the couple placed their first daughter, Carly, for adoption, as seen on 16 and Pregnant.

In 2019, the Teen Mom OG stars welcomed a rainbow baby, daughter Vaeda Luma Baltierra. In December 2020, Catelynn wrote on Twitter that she suffered another pregnancy loss, writing, "I am sharing this to let you know you are not alone."

In February 2021, the couple announced on social media that they were expecting another baby girl.

On the season nine finale of Teen Mom OG, which aired in April 2021, Catelynn reflected on her pregnancy losses. "The reason why I got triggered when I had the first miscarriage was because it was losing a child all over again and that trauma from being 16 years old and handing your child away to somebody really got triggered and it brought up all sorts of emotions. It's just crazy what your mind can do. How it holds on to these things and brings them out in different ways."

She continued, "I think the only thing that's different this time around is, obviously, my mental health is in a better state because it's not like overcoming me or making me spiral. I can tell the mental health work I've done has worked, but that being said, it still sucks and you still have a moment of being mad at your body. It's super hard and it's a traumatic experience."

Constance Marie

The George Lopez Show actress welcomed her rainbow baby, Luna Marie Katich, in 2009 after more than three years of infertility—including attempts with the fertility drug Clomid, intrauterine insemination (IUI) and two unsuccessful IVF rounds. She suffered two losses before undergoing a third round of IVF and acupuncture and becoming pregnant with her daughter, according to People.

"I was 38-and-a-half years old when we started trying to have a baby," she said. "I thought it would be no problem, but the three-and-a-half years it took us was the most difficult period of my life."

Beverley Mitchell

In November 2018, the 7th Heaven alum, then a mom to daughter Kenzie Lynne Cameron, born in 2013, and son Hutton Michael Cameron, born in 2015, revealed she suffered a miscarriage of twins earlier in the year

"I never really considered that I would miscarry being that I had already had two healthy pregnancies," Beverley wrote on her Growing Up Hollywood blog. "This was my misconception."

She also wrote about how difficult it was to share her grief with people. "Every time I shared what we were going through I made people uncomfortable, no one ever knows what to say, and to be honest, there is nothing to say," the actress said. "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."

In March 2020, Beverley announced on Instagram that she and husband Michael Cameron were expecting again.

"We finally got our gold at the end of the rainbow!!!!" she wrote. "We are pregnant with our rainbow baby."

In July 2020, the actress announced she gave birth to daughter Mayzel Josephine Cameron.

Gabrielle Union

In November 2018, the Being Mary Jane actress announced on Instagram that she and husband Dwyane Wade welcomed their first child together, Kaavia James Wade, through a surrogate. 

In her 2017 book We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True, Gabrielle, who is also a stepmom to Dwyane's three older kids, revealed she had suffered "eight or nine miscarriages" over three years and a long IVF journey.

"I've cried so many times today for so many reasons, mainly because I'd gotten accustomed to heartbreak and disappointment. I think a lot of us live in that space. I set up shop there," the actress wrote on Instagram. "This moment reminded me that miracles do happen."

Scheana Shay

In June 2020, the Vanderpump Rules star revealed on her Scheananigans with Scheana Shay podcast that she had suffered a miscarriage after getting pregnant with her and boyfriend Brock Davies' first child. "I know that now I want this more than anything," Scheana said. "The second that test said positive, I've never been more excited for something in my life."

"I didn't think I could get pregnant on my own," she continued. "My doctors said it would be close to impossible to get pregnant on my own."

The following October, Scheana revealed that she and Brock were expecting their rainbow baby. The reality star gave birth to daughter Summer Moon Honey Davies in April 2021.

Chrissy Teigen

The model-slash-cookbook author and husband John Legend tried to have a baby for nine years before she underwent IVF to conceive their two children, daughter Luna Simone Stephens, born in 2016, and son Miles Theodore Stephens, born in 2018.

Luna was not the first embryo Chrissy carried. Before that pregnancy, the star underwent a transfer with a previous embryo, also determined to be female through Preimplantation Genetic Screening, a common IVF regimen test to screen for chromosomal abnormalities. This embryo failed to implant.

"The first little girl didn't work," Chrissy told InStyle magazine in 2017, "and then the second is Luna."

In 2020, Chrissy became pregnant naturally. Sadly, she suffered a partial placental abruption and she and John lost the baby, a boy they named Jack, that September. She was 20 weeks along—a month before a premature infant has a chance of survival in the NICU. The model shared moving photos of the couple's final moments with their youngest son in the hospital on Instagram.

"We are so grateful for the life we have, for our wonderful babies Luna and Miles, for all the amazing things we've been able to experience," she wrote. "But everyday can't be full of sunshine. On this darkest of days, we will grieve, we will cry our eyes out. But we will hug and love each other harder and get through it.

Dylan Dreyer

In April 2019, during National Infertility Awareness Week, the Today show meteorologist opened up to viewers about battling secondary infertility and suffering a miscarriage.

She said that a couple of years after welcoming son Calvin Bradley Fichera in 2016, Dylan and husband Fichera struggled to conceive a second child. Doctors told her she had an unusually low number of healthy eggs, making it more difficult to get pregnant. She also had irregular cycles and scarring in her uterus, both of which also contributed to her infertility. After undergoing surgery to clear the adhesions, Dylan became pregnant but miscarried about a month later.

"I am blessed with the family that I have," she said on Today, "Going through a miscarriage and not knowing what the future holds is emotional and I just want people to know that I'm going through it, too."

Three months later, in July 2019, Dylan announced on the show that she was expecting again. She said her doctor told her she tested positive for pregnancy, on the day she was set to begin IVF treatments. In January 2020, she gave birth to another baby boyOliver George Fichera.

Shay Mitchell

On New Year's Day 2019, the Pretty Little Liars alum revealed on her Instagram Story that in 2018, she suffered a miscarriage. In June 2019, she announced she was pregnant again. She revealed the news on Instagram and in a teaser for her new bi-weekly YouTube Original Series, Almost Ready, which showed her and boyfriend Matte Babel at a pregnancy photo shoot.

"I chose to hold on until I announced because of the first time," Shay said on the show, also adding, "I think pregnancy is awesome for the most part but it's also really f--king lonely."

In October 2019, Shay announced on social media that she gave birth to a baby girl. She later revealed her name to be Atlas Noa.

Jamie Otis

In 2016, Married at First Sight stars Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner lost their first child, son Johnathan Edward Hehner, when she was 17 weeks pregnant. In 2017, Jamie gave birth to the couple's first rainbow baby, daughter Henley Grace Hehner.

In September 2018, Jamie had an early miscarriage, also known as a chemical pregnancy, and in January 2019, she revealed she suffered another miscarriage, this time at 10 weeks along, at the end of her first trimester.

The couple welcomed their second rainbow baby, son Henrix Douglas Hehner, in 2020. Jamie became pregnant with him naturally, just as she and Doug started to see a fertility doctor.

The family continues to pay tribute to their firstborn on social media.

"The boy who made me a mama," Jamie wrote on Instagram in May 2021, alongside a photo of herself and Doug holding Johnathan in the hospital. "Yesterday was Bereaved Mother's Day. I was just going to let it pass, but I don't talk about my first born baby boy nearly as much as I used to. Sometimes I feel guilty for that.⁣"

She continued, "Even though I can't hold him in my arms or rock him to sleep at night, this little guy is *always* in my heart. He showed me what unconditional love is. I've never had so much love for someone I only spent such a short amount of time with...I remember my first Mother's Day. I was pregnant with Johnathan and I was so excited!!! We had began talking about names and planning a gender reveal party.⁣"

"The day I delivered him was without doubt the worst day of my life," Jamie wrote. "He was so tiny and i felt so helpless as a mommy. I wanted so badly to do ANYTHING to help him breathe and keep his heart beating...but there was "nothing" I could do to protect him and nurture him. I got to hold him for maybe 10 minutes before the nurses and doctor wanted to take him.⁣ I remember begging them to let him stay with us for just a little while longer. But then the nurse in me felt guilty that I was holding up a bed."

Jamie said, "Time definitely numbs the pain, but it never fully goes away."

Hope Solo

In June 2019, the soccer star revealed in an ELLE interview that a year prior, she suffered a miscarriage after becoming pregnant with fraternal twins. It was a half-ectopic pregnancy—one of the embryos had implanted in one of her fallopian tubes instead of her uterus, and she had to undergo emergency surgery.

"The doctor said I was hours from dying," she said.

In December 2019, Hope announced that and husband Jerramy Stevens were once again expecting twins, a boy and a girl. In March 2020, she gave birth to son Vittorio Genghis Stevens and daughter Lozen Orianna Judith Stevens.

Claire Holt

In March 2018, the Originals actress posted on Instagram a photo of herself being prepped for dilation and curettage surgery after suffering a miscarriage. "I sent it to my fiancé in the waiting room to show him that I was ok," she wrote. "I wasn't. I've never felt more broken in my life."

Following her surgery, she continued, "I spent hours on the internet searching for women who had been through it. I was desperate to find someone, anyone, who could relate to what I was feeling. Someone to tell me that the depression and hopelessness were normal. That it wasn't my fault. That I wasn't broken forever. I found a community of women who shared my exact experience. Who were open and vulnerable about miscarriage, something that isn't often or openly discussed. It breaks my heart to think that losing a baby feels like something we have to keep to ourselves."

Claire and husband Andrew Joblon welcomed their rainbow baby, a son named James Holt Joblon, in March 2019. Claire gave birth to a daughterElle Madeline Holt Joblon, in September 2020.

Hilarie Burton

In 2018, the One Tree Hill alum gave birth to her and husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan's daughter George Virginia Morgan, who joined big brother Augustus Morgan, born in 2010. Hilarie and The Walking Dead star tried for five years to conceive their youngest child, with the actress suffering several pregnancy losses along the way.

"I didn't want to celebrate for fear of jinxing it," she wrote on Instagram regarding her pregnancy with her daughter. "I didn't want a baby shower. I checked her heartbeat every day, up until the day she was born. And now that she is here, I just stare at her in wonder all day. I see her in her daddy's arms and I don't take any of it for granted. She screams bloody murder and I smile because she is so wildly alive."

Hilarie continued, "Fertility is a fickle thing. And for the other couples out there who have had dark days, we want to introduce our miracle baby to you and send you our love and support in finding yours. Please meet George Virginia Morgan. She was born February 16th. Her daddy delivered her. We love her very much."