Laura Benanti reveals she suffered a miscarriage while performing: 'I knew it was happening'
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Jenny Anderson Laura Benanti
Tony-winning actress and singer Laura Benanti has revealed that she suffered a miscarriage during a recent stage performance.
Benanti opened up about the pregnancy loss in a heartfelt Instagram post Wednesday, and thanked all the people helping her get through it.
"On Monday April 3rd, I performed on stage for 2000 people while having a miscarriage," she wrote. "I knew it was happening. It started slowly the night before. If it had been our first loss, or even our second, I likely wouldn't have been able to go on. But unfortunately, I am not a stranger to the pain and emptiness of losing a pregnancy."
After a previous pregnancy loss, Benanti penned a 2015 essay for the Huffington Post about the stigma around women discussing miscarriage, referring to it as the Voldemort of women's issues.
"It is a path I have walked before, hand in hand with my husband," Benanti continued in her Instagram post. "But this time we walked it alongside some of the kindest, most loving humans I will ever have the honor to share space with."
The Life & Beth star went on to thank the audience for "the grace your presence allowed" and for lifting "me out of my grief for that Holy hour." She thanked the band, the crew, the show's producers, and her friends and fellow performers "for rallying around me and so graciously accommodating my changing needs."
Benanti reserved special thanks for her in-laws for shielding her eldest daughter, Ella, from the reality of what was going on "and giving her the time of her life while 'Mama's back hurt.'"
Finally, she thanked "that little soul for choosing me as your home, even for a short time."
"My husband and I are heartbroken but we will move through this together as we, and so many others, have done before," Benanti concluded. "I share all of this, not to garner sympathy or attention, but to remind the many people and families who have and will suffer in this way that there is no shame in this kind of loss. That you are not alone. And to remind myself as well."
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