Chrissy Teigen and John Legend — who have been open about their struggles with infertility and conceiving their two children through in vitro fertilization — announced this week that they are expecting a third child, which Legend said was “a quarantine surprise.”
Teigen, 34, and Legend, 41, are parents to four-year-old Luna and two-year-old Milo. Both kids were conceived using assisted reproduction. Teigen was open about the process, saying that she struggled to get and stay pregnant for years before Luna was born. She even had three miscarriages before welcoming her rainbow baby.
This time, however, things were different.
“It was a surprise, a little quarantine surprise, I guess you could say,” Legend told TODAY. “But we’re very excited, and we’re grateful for all the well wishes we’ve gotten from people all around the world. Thank you so much.”
The couple revealed their pregnancy in the music video for Legend’s song, Wild. In the video, they play on the beach with Luna and Milo before Legend hugs Teigen from behind, highlighting her baby bump.
On Twitter, Teigen talked about just how surprising the pregnancy was. A fan Tweeted at her, asking if she was pregnant when she had her breast implants removed during surgery in June. Teigen responded, “I did the routine pregnancy test you do before surgery. It said negative. It was not negative.”
Teigen had the surgery without any problems. But then, she took another pregnancy test, something she’s done routinely even through her infertility.
“A few weeks after surgery, I took a test. And for many years now, I’ve taken pregnancy tests almost every month, praying to see a positive one day. Just wishful thinking. I never had a positive before,” she wrote.
The morning that Legend’s new album was set to release, he woke up at 3 a.m. to appear on Good Morning America, she wrote. “I woke up with him and was like man, [I] should take my monthly test to be disappointed….”
This time, however, things were different.
“I was not disappointed. But I was scared shitless,” Teigen wrote.
She was nervous that she had major surgery while she was pregnant, unbeknownst to her and her medical team. But she was also just worried to have an unexpected pregnancy after years of infertility.
“So we prayed to the boob surgery gods that everything would be okay. Went to every appointment terrified. Even without the surgery, I didn’t think I could get pregnant naturally anyway. So the odds just felt…bad,” she wrote.
Many moms who have been through IVF have heard the old trope about just relaxing… and in Teigen’s case, that worked this time, she said.
“What they say so often can be true. When you give up on trying, life has a way of surprising you. In summary, my boobs hurt,” she wrote.
However, despite her unexpected blessing this time, she still spoke openly to people who are experiencing infertility or having trouble getting pregnant.
“I hope this gives anyone out there some hope. IVF was an amazing choice for us to be able to make. So hard, but we got two beautiful monsters out of it. I promise you, I never ever ever ever ever thought I could,” she wrote.
Having less control over the process has been nerve-wracking, she said.
“I’m still very worried. Part of me misses the safety of my perfect embryos, created in their little dish. They felt untouchable and safe. Now I feel a bit…eggshelly.”
Teigen was too surprised by her pregnancy to plan any Pinterest-worthy way of telling her husband, she told a fan.
I always had this big plan or picture of how I'd do it. Screaming, crying. But it wasn't that at all! Just shock. Just handed it to him with my mouth open. https://t.co/k6IhneixzM
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) August 15, 2020
We don’t know yet when Teigen is due, but we’re looking forward to her refreshing honesty throughout pregnancy.
