I am childless by choice after traumatic and devastating miscarriages, says Kelly Brook
KELLY Brook has revealed she decided not to try for children with husband Jeremy Parisi after devastating miscarriages.
The TV star and model, 44, miscarried in 2011 and 2012 while in a relationship with retired rugby ace Thom Evans.
Kelly referenced being childless in her recent Race Across The World win with husband Jeremy, 39, and commented that her future was “uncertain”.
In a new exclusive interview she explained just what she meant by that.
“I’m surrounded by a lot of families with kids and I see it brings people a lot of happiness, but I also see it brings people a lot of stress,” said Kelly.
“Jeremy and I love to be around family we really do but we also love to travel and do our own thing.
“We love our dog. It’s not like we are completely selfish, we do have pets.
“I have been through pregnancies and miscarriages and I know how traumatic and devastating they are on you and on your relationship.
“I have been down that road with previous partners and it is a lot. I look at the beautiful life we have and how we don’t have the burden of that.”
Heart Radio star Kelly said the couple, who tied the knot in 2022, haven’t considered the various options available to them when it comes to starting a family, and that what they have together is enough.
She said: “We haven’t tried for children, we haven’t gone down the IVF route. We’ve not even looked into it and I think we are all the more happier for it to be honest.”
Looking back at her previous relationships, Kelly said she always felt having children would strengthen them, but instead the attempts to start a family ultimately led them to break down.
“I am actually childless by choice at the moment,” she said. “It’s not something that we have considered and I don’t think that should be a taboo.
“I think it is a really brave thing to say as a woman. Sometimes I look back and wonder if it was ever what I really wanted? Maybe I was going along with it because it’s expected. Because that’s what everyone does.”
Despite being at peace with being childless, Kelly is also not ruling out being a mum in the future.
Though she is open to the idea of adoption, she admits she hasn’t discussed it with Jeremy yet.
When it comes to the type of parent she would be, Kelly only knows it would be very different to her own mum, who was just 16 when she gave birth.
She said: “I never really had a motherly example. I have a mum and she is fantastic but she was a very young mum. It’s hard for me to imagine it now because I am 44, I am not 17.”
What is miscarriage and why do pregnancies fail?
MISCARRIAGE is generally the death of an unborn baby in the first 24 weeks – approximately six months – of pregnancy.
Miscarriages may not be spoken about a lot but they are very common. Baby loss charity Tommy’s estimates there are at least 250,000 per year in the UK and that one in every five pregnancies ends in miscarriage.
It may not be clear why a miscarriage happens but they are rarely caused by anything done by the mother or father. Usually the embryo has a random genetic defect that means it cannot develop properly.
Most women can go on to successfully have healthy babies in the future.
The NHS says most miscarriages cannot be prevented but avoiding smoking, alcohol and drugs while pregnant can reduce the risk.
Some of the other most common reasons for a pregnancy to fail in the first 24 weeks are ectopic pregnancy and molar pregnancy.
Ectopic pregnancy is where a fertilised egg implants somewhere outside of the womb, usually in a fallopian tube. It cannot survive and grow there so either dies naturally or must be terminated.
Molar pregnancy is rarer but happens when a fertilised egg and/or placenta does not develop properly at the start of a pregnancy. There is no single reason why it happens and cannot be prevented, though it may be more common in very young or old mothers.
A baby who dies after 24 weeks is considered a stillbirth.
Source: NHS