MKR stars Carly Saunders and Tresne Middleton have opened up about experiencing a devastating miscarriage less than one year after losing their 20-month-old daughter, Poppy Grace.
In February, the TV stars made the heartbreaking announcement that their little girl had passed after fighting a rare form of leukaemia for the majority of her life. Just five months after losing her, the couple announced they have lost their second baby due to a miscarriage.
“Sadly, we know that miscarriage occurs in one in four pregnancies. It certainly doesn’t make living through one any easier,” they wrote on the pair’s joint Instagram account on Wednesday.
The pair shared their sad news through a video that captures their early pregnancy moments.
Failed to find the baby’s heartbeat
The video in itself is an emotional reminder of just how hard IVF can be on couples as Carly undergoes egg collection, implantation, and then a heartbeat at 7 weeks. Carly showcases her growing baby bump at 8 weeks and 10 weeks followed by the news that, at 11 weeks, there was no heartbeat.
The couple explains that after losing Poppy, they took time to grieve and travel to Thailand before deciding to expand their family.
After Thailand, we felt that we were ready to start the IVF process again. We had started to heal, we did a variety of health scans, we were fit and well and we felt as if Poppy was guiding us towards growing our family. So we began the process in May and on POPPY’S 2nd BIRTHDAY we found out Carly was pregnant. We were over the moon and felt it was a good sign that we found out on such a special day.”
At the 11 week scan we failed to find the baby’s heartbeat. Watching the ultrasound machine scanning over Carly’s belly, frantically looking for a heartbeat was devastating.”
Carly has since undergone a curette and the couple admits it has “taken a minute to gain the strength to share where we are at.”
Losing Poppy Grace
Carly and Tresne, who appeared on the fifth season of My Kitchen Rules, married in 2011 and have been together since 2006.
In June 2021, the MKR stars welcomed Poppy Grace. At just 12 weeks old Poppy was diagnosed with Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Her diagnosis came as a major shock as her only symptom was vomiting.
Poppy fought “tooth and nail until her final breath” and her story touched thousands of people.
“We all thought she would make it. It seems like a terrible nightmare that we will not wake up beside her, that we will have no more Poppy updates to share,” Carly and Tresne wrote after losing Poppy.
Hope that Poppy will have a sibling
After the miscarriage, the mums have turned to their beautiful angel to help them push through.
“Poppy Grace showed us immense strength no matter what hurdle was thrown her way. We are channeling her resilience in dealing with this new set of challenges and hope she watches on, proud of her mums.
We hope that one day, our daydream of a family will come true, that Poppy will have siblings and we will feel the unconditional love of children again. If this is your story too, we hope that your dream of a family will soon come true also. Sending love and appreciation to all of you.”
We are sending Carly and Tresne strength and support.
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