John Legend Opens Up About Grief During Child Loss: "You'll Never Forget It"

It’s been two years since Chrissy Teigen posted a heartbreaking set of photos detailing the birth of her son Jack, who was stillborn at 20 weeks gestation. The intimate photos of Chrissy and her husband, John Legend, opened up a conversation about child loss and grief. And recently, John spoke about the importance of those images, and how grief and child loss change you.

John sat down to talk with BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and in the conversation, John spoke about Chrissy’s decision to document her late son’s birth and to share the images so publicly.

"It was difficult, and I was hesitant to share it," John said in the interview. "I think Chrissy was really right in encouraging us to share it because I think it really was powerful for a lot of people."

"Way more people than anybody realizes go through this," he added. "They told us they felt alone a lot of times, and us sharing our experience helped people feel less alone and feel like there were other people going through it and there was a community of people going through it."

John also shared that after Chrissy shared the photos of the process, which he said was “a really powerful, wise decision … because it helped a lot of people,” fathers began reaching out to him. And he candidly spoke about grief.

"It's hard to try to comfort anyone that's going through it because there's no real comfort," he explained. "You're always going to feel that loss. It kind of spreads over time, so it doesn't feel as heavy over time, but you'll never forget it."

John and Chrissy recently announced they’re expecting their fourth baby. "The last few years have been a blur of emotions to say the least, but joy has filled our home and hearts again," Chrissy wrote on social media announcing the happy news.

"I don't think I'll ever walk out of an appointment with more excitement than nerves but so far, everything is perfect and beautiful and I'm feeling hopeful and amazing," she continued. "OK phew it's been very hard keeping this in for so long!"