Olympic Gold Medalist Shares Miscarriage Experience So That Others Going Through It Realize They Aren’t Alone

Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East and her husband, NFL player Andrew East, shared an emotional video chronicling her pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage on YouTube on October 21.

The gold medalist documented their journey and shared it with their fans to help destigmatize miscarriages and make it clear that this is a common occurrence.

The video begins with Shawn learning that she’s pregnant.

shawn johnson east miscarriage

She explains how she took numerous pregnancy tests and found out she was pregnant. She and her husband were not trying, so it came as a bit of a shock. Her tears are tears of excitement, joy, confusion, and fear.

She contemplates how she’ll tell her husband, who happened to be on the other side of the country at the time she found out.

shawn johnson east miscarriage

The moment she tells him is captured on video. The look on his face says it all, and you watch this young couple in the moment that their lives change forever.

However, the next morning, Johnson explains that she has been experiencing cramping and bleeding.

shawn johnson east miscarriage

They head to the doctor and find out she had a miscarriage. East keeps the camera rolling throughout the doctor’s visit and it is heartbreaking to watch. It is extremely brave of the young couple to share this difficult experience with their fans.

Miscarriage happens between 10 and 25 percent of known pregnancies.

Shawn Johnson East and Andrew East’s heartfelt and honest video can be watched in full here:

“Know you’re not the only one going through whatever you’re going through,” East says in their video.

That is why they shared this painful experience. The vulnerability and raw emotion they exhibited will hopefully make miscarriage less of a stigmatized idea and more of a fact of life that unfortunately many women will have to deal with in their lifetime.

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