Laura Benanti. Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
A heartbreaking loss. Laura Benanti revealed she suffered a miscarriage while on stage during a recent performance.
“On Monday April 3rd, I performed on stage for 2000 people while having a miscarriage,” the Younger alum, 43, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, April 5. “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. It is a path I have walked before, hand in hand with my husband.”
In her post, the Gossip Girl star recalled feeling uplifted in that tragic moment thanks to the support of the audience and the crew behind the scenes.
“But this time we walked it alongside some of the kindest, most loving humans I will ever have the honor to share space with,” she penned. “Thank you to everyone in that audience for the grace your presence allowed. For lifting me out of my grief for that Holy hour.”
She continued: “Thank you to my band for holding me, unconditionally, in your hearts, and to the crew for working so hard to make me as comfortable as possible. Thank you to my friends and fellow performers for rallying around me and so graciously accommodating my changing needs.”
Benanti and her husband, Patrick Brown, who wed in November 2015, suffered their first miscarriage years before they welcomed their first child, Ella, now 6, in February 2017. The pair welcomed their second daughter, Louisa, now 9 months old, via surrogate in February 2022.
On Wednesday, the Broadway actress expressed her gratitude for her family in the dark moment.
“Patrick and I are so grateful for the family that we have, and the miracle of our two little girls. One carried by me and one carried by an angel-on-earth,” she reflected. “My husband and I are heartbroken but we will move through this together as we, and so many others, have done before. 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. 🤍”
Benanti has been candid about her struggle with being able to conceive. In March 2015, she opened up about her first miscarriage in an essay for The Huffington Post.
“The day I found out I was Pregnant was the happiest day of my life,” she penned. “I had wanted to be a mom for a long time, and at 36 it was finally happening. … Why do we not talk about this more? After this happened to me, I spoke with women I felt relatively close to, who had experienced the same thing, and I had never even known. … My hope is that talking about it in an open forum can be healing in some small way. Sometimes it can be helpful to know that someone out there has felt the same pain as you, and that they are holding you in their heart.”
