Kylie Kelce is opening up about an emotional loss on her pregnancy journey.
The “Not Gonna Lie” podcaster spoke to her audience about a miscarriage she experienced years ago, before she and husband Jason Kelce would go on to welcome their first child.
The story, shared on Thursday’s episode of her podcast, was especially poignant, as October marks Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month.
Kylie spoke about going to appointments after getting a positive pregnancy test, and telling her and Jason’s close family when she was around the 12-week mark.
“We made it a point to surprise Jason’s mom and dad when we were there by pretending to take a photo and telling them that we were expecting,” Kylie said as she motioned to pause and began to get emotional. Kylie’s eyes welled up as she continued to share her story and wipe away her tears.
“We surprised Jason’s mom and dad with a video. We also surprised Jason’s Aunt Judy and his grandmother, Grandma Mary,” Kylie said, as her voice broke. “When we were in Cleveland, we surprised [Jason’s brother] Travis with little baby booties. Um, all of these interactions were recorded for memory purposes.”
During her 12 week scan, which actually occurred when she was 13 weeks pregnant, Kylie received the devastating news something was wrong.
“It felt like everything went into slow motion, and they could not find the baby on the doppler, and at 13-ish weeks they should,” Kylie said of her appointment.
“I don’t know if it was the doom and gloom of like, I was almost expecting it or what, but I remember being like, ’Oh, there isn’t a heartbeat. You didn’t find one, ‘cause there isn’t one,’” she said, as Kylie said she was trying not to let her emotions get to a “full gasping situation” while she retold the story.
“They estimated that the baby had stopped developing between, I believe it was nine and 10 weeks. Essentially, I had what you would refer to as a missed miscarriage,” the high school coach shared.
“It was a shitty day,” Kylie said as she continued to take breaks while telling the painful story. “It was a shitty day because it was Jason’s birthday.”
“I still remember going to the car and calling my mom, which is not a good idea when you are heaving crying in the car. But I called my mom and told her that I couldn’t tell Jason because it was his birthday, which seems very silly, because obviously I’m going to tell my husband what happened. And I did, and it was hard for both of us.”
“I emphasize the fact that this still hurts after having four children, because it does. And it’s OK,” Kylie said. She and Jason have four daughters: Wyatt, 6, Elliotte, 4, Bennett, 2, and Finn, who was born in March.
She later added that “having had that experience then messed with my brain for every consecutive pregnancy.”
“For Wyatt, we did not share that we were pregnant until I was after 20 weeks. For consecutive pregnancies, waited until I was at least 16 weeks,” the podcaster said. “I Googled almost every week what the percentage likelihood was that a baby could survive ― which sounds really dark.
“I literally did it for Finn,” Kylie said, referencing her fourth daughter.
“It’s scarring and stays with you in a way that is yours only,” the mom said of her experience. “And whether you have a loss at six weeks or 13 weeks or whenever ― that loss is real.”
Miscarriage is defined by the Mayo Clinic as “the sudden loss of a pregnancy before the 20th week,” after which the loss is defined as a stillbirth.
It is estimated that about 10 to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. The true rate is likely higher, as many women do not know they are pregnant when they miscarry.
Kylie joins a chorus of other famous women ― like Michelle Obama, Meghan Markle and Chrissy Teigen ― who have all opened up and shared their fertility stories.