Pregnancy is a precarious thing. I have often said you start worrying about the safety of your baby from the moment you see those two lines on the stick until the day you die.
I have known far too many women who have suffered miscarriage and loss. For all of my friends who have shared news of their losses, I'm sure many more friends have also suffered and not shared.
Every time I hear about a celebrity divorce or break up I roll my eyes. It seems like, in Hollywood, marriages are just another form of dating, and just as expendable. But really, I'm sure there is heartbreak and I'm sure there is also humiliation with the world knowing your business at one of your lowest moments.
I can not begin to imagine how hard it would be have the world know about suffering a tragic loss of a much wanted pregnancy.
Gwyneth Paltrow announced to the world this week that she suffered a loss at some point in her pregnancy that was so severe it almost took her life.
I get that she's a celeb and is basically asking for critics to question her choice to share the news and the manner in which she did. Commenters on the People article about the news suggest she's exaggerating the severity and questioning why she'd try again at the 'advanced' age of 40.
Related: Signs of Miscarriage
I keep vacillating between "you're no different than millions of other women who have suffered miscarriages. What makes your news 'news?'" and then thinking "a loss is a loss and it's sad and terrible when it happens and I'm sorry it happened to her."
That's the problem with celeb news. These people aren't real. Not really anyway. People feel entitled to make comments on life choices, like "I don't get it. If you already have two children and nearly died the last time you attempted to add to your family, why in the world would you even THINK about trying again?" that they would never make to someone they care about in their real lives.
That's the rub of celebrity gossip and celebrity news. These people are real people with real lives and real feelings. But they are more often seen on screen than in the flesh and so people feel entitled to say "Women over 35 should not have kids as it's unfair to the child." When you say that you're not talking about Gwyneth Paltrow. You're talking about countless women who are over the age of 35 who want to start or expand their families.
I feel badly for Paltrow but I don't at the same time. She shared this news with the world. That was her choice. But a loss is sad no matter who it happens to. Even if it's someone people don't realize she is 'real.' Because ultimately, she very much is.
Written by Leslie Kennedy for BabyPost
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