If you’re active on Twitter, you know that Chrissy Teigen has some of the most transparent, irreverent and polarizing tweets of all time. Her usual line-up consists of Trump jokes, pizza cravings and teasing her husband John Legend. I’m so used to seeing this playfully defiant side of Teigen that I was shocked when I saw her tweet announcing that she had suffered a pregnancy loss.
She tweeted a heartbreaking black and white photograph of her hunched over on her hospital bed, tears streaming down her face. In the caption, she told the world about the complications she faced and how this was the first baby she and Legend named ahead of time – Jack. To Jack, she apologized for not being able to give him the home he needed to survive. She thanked everyone for their thoughts and prayers. And lastly, she sent out a message of hope in the midst of her adversity.
“Oh 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.”
Teigen’s posts on Instagram and Twitter have gathered over 12 million likes and the comments are filled with well-wishes for Teigen’s family. The comment sections of these posts have also served as a place for women who have gone through similar experiences to safely share their stories. Her posts have seemingly cracked open an important dialogue about the physical and mental health of pregnant women.
But of course, not everyone is on the same page. Many have insulted Teigen for her posts being attention seeking and asked why a photographer was present in her hospital room. Others have labeled her posts as inappropriate, claiming that moments like these are not meant for public consumption.
Chrissy Teigen is no stranger to the woes of being exposed to public opinion. She knew what we might say about her and she bared her emotions to us anyway. Whether this was with the intention of reaching out to other women who are hurting or this is just her way of grieving, we may never know for sure.
But one of the biggest lessons I think women can learn from Teigen’s actions is how to take our emotions into our own hands. As women, how often are we told how we’re supposed to feel? How often are we told what we’re supposed to and not supposed to share with the world, especially when it comes to our health and our bodies? Pregnancy loss is not uncommon and yet women are expected to hold that pain close to their chests and suffer in silence because it might make other people uncomfortable.
Teigen was not afraid to make people uncomfortable. In front of the unforgiving eyes of the world, Chrissy Teigen took ownership of her pregnancy and her grief.