John Legend Wants People Struggling With Fertility to Feel Less ‘Alone’

Earlier this month, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend welcomed a baby girl named Esti after being very open about their pregnancy and fertility journeys over the past few years. On Thursday’s episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show, Legend spoke about why they’ve been so transparent about the work they’ve put into building a family, especially following the loss of their prematurely born son, Jack, in September 2020.

After gushing over photos of Esti and hearing how Legend and Teigen chose her full name (a combination of two of Legend’s ancestors’ names), Hudson said, “I’m sure it’s been helpful to others that you and Chrissy have been so open to share your journey about having another child.”

“We’ve been open about it because we’ve had challenges,” Legend replied. “We had to use [in vitro fertilization] to conceive our children. We’ve had a pregnancy loss, and I think a lot of families grow through that, but I think a lot of people were happy that we talked about it because they didn’t feel so alone.”

Legend also spoke about how common these challenges are, even though they are rarely publicly discussed. “A lot of people go through this, and they go through it in silence or they go through it feeling like they’re the only ones going through it,” he said. “And I think Chrissy and I talking about it has made people feel better about that journey.”

Teigen had a medical abortion 20 weeks into her pregnancy with her son Jack after experiencing a partial placenta abruption. While Teigen first publicly discussed it as a “pregnancy loss,” she has since recognized that she had a medically necessary abortion. “Let’s just call it what it was: It was an abortion,” Teigen said in September. “An abortion to save my life for a baby that had absolutely no chance. And to be honest, I never ever put that together until, actually, a few months ago.”

Along with her and Legend’s ongoing anxiety and heartbreak, Teigen was open about the progress of her most recent pregnancy. When she first announced that she was pregnant in August, she not only shared pictures of her baby bump, but her bruises from IVF injections. “1 billion shots later (in the leg, as you can see!) we have another on the way,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Every appointment I’ve said to myself, ‘ok if it’s healthy today I’ll announce’ but then I breathe a sigh of relief to hear a heartbeat and decide that I’m too nervous still.”

Legend’s happiness about his growing family, which includes 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, was palpable.

“I’m in awe of Chrissy’s strength and resilience and I’m so thrilled to see how Luna and Miles embrace their baby sister,” he told Hudson. “I’m so, so grateful, but that doesn’t seem like a big enough word.”