Chrissy Teigen has recalled the heartbreaking moment John Legend told her she had an abortion – and not a miscarriage – with late son Jack in 2020.
The model, 38, made the ‘difficult decision’ to terminate the pregnancy at 20 weeks after coming to terms with the fact that she nor Jack would likely survive – and previously said it took her ‘over a year’ to understand she’d had a life-saving abortion.
Teigen – who is mom to four other young children with Legend, 45, appeared at a rally supporting Arizona’s right-to-abortion initiative, Proposition 139, in Phoenix, AZ on Sunday – and detailed the final days of her pregnancy with Jack.
She said: ‘This was a baby we desperately wanted. We had done IVF… and all of a sudden I got pregnant naturally. It was a godsend, we were so so excited.
‘Slowly but surely things started taking a turn for the worse, starting around 12 weeks, I was bleeding out..
Chrissy Teigen has recalled the heartbreaking moment John Legend told her she had an abortion – and not a miscarriage – with late son Jack in 2020 – the couple are pictured with their son
Teigen and Legend are parents to four other children – Luna, eight, Miles, six, Esti, 20 months, and Wren, 15 months
‘One thing that was hard for me was that I never experienced any pain in it so I never thought of it as being anything other than a miscarriage. We hear the word abortion, we think there’s some kind of pain with it … nowhere in those days in the hospital getting blood transfusions did I think that I was in danger of losing this baby because I was in no pain.
‘There’s such a stigma around the word abortion. Nobody wants to say abortion… I didn’t even know I had one. And that was so embarrassing to admit in front of the entire world.
‘I remember it happening and me looking at John saying, “That is so terrible what those people have to go through and this choice they have to make. That is so terrible for them.’ And then he said, “for you, for us.”
‘I said, “What do you mean?” He’s like, “You had an abortion.” … And I was like, ‘No f*****g way. Really? No way.” My mind was blown that day.
‘I realized that same day that if I didn’t know the language around this and I didn’t know what was happening to my body, how could other people possibly empathize with our situation and our scenario?’
She added that she wanted to spread the message that ‘abortion is healthcare.’
This November 10 states will have abortion measures on their ballot seeking to either affirm that the state constitution protects the right to abortion or that nothing in the constitution confers such a right, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
She said: ‘I remember it happening and me looking at John saying, “That is so terrible what those people have to go through and this choice they have to make. That is so terrible for them.’ And then he said, “for you, for us’ – pictured ahead of her termination
Teigen previously said she would not be able to carry a baby again – but after successful fertility treatments gave birth to daughter Esti, now 20 months, in 2023
She also welcomed son Wren, 15 months, by surrogate the same year – pictured with surrogate Alexandra
The couple are pictured with their two eldest children in July 2024
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 13 states have a total abortion ban and 28 states have abortion bans based on gestational duration.
Earlier this month Teigen spoke about their late son on the Club Shay Shay podcast.
He said: ‘My wife, she was well past 15 weeks when she had to have an abortion. She was miscarrying and bleeding out, and all these things were happening… Her life was in danger.’
Teigen suffered a partial placental abruption at 20 weeks with Jack, which is when the placenta detaches from the womb depriving the baby of oxygen and causing heavy bleeding in the mother.
Teigen previously said she would not be able to carry a baby again – but after successful fertility treatments – gave birth to daughter Esti, now 20 months, in 2023.
She also welcomed son Wren, 15 months, by surrogate the same year – joining daughter Luna, eight, and son Miles, six.