The Tony winner detailed the loss in her fertility journey.
Tony winner Laura Benanti is opening up about the miscarriage she suffered while performing onstage in front of a 2,000-person crowd on The Broadway Cruise. The singer took to Instagram to share a photo from Monday's performance and detail the loss in her fertility journey.
"I performed on stage for 2000 people while having a miscarriage. I knew it was happening," Benanti began her post, before revealing she had suffered miscarriages before. "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."
Benanti and her husband, Patrick Brown, share two children together -- 6-year-old Ella and nearly 9-month-old Louisa, who was welcomed via surrogate.
The Broadway star explained how performing during her miscarriage was able to lift her out of her grief, saying, "We walked it alongside some of the kindest, most loving humans I will ever have the honor to share space with. Thank you to everyone in that audience for the grace your presence allowed. For lifting me out of my grief for that Holy hour."
During the performance, Benanti's daughter, Ella, joined her onstage for a rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Ella was not aware of the miscarriage and Benanti went on to thank her in-laws for giving Ella "the time of her life while 'Mama’s back hurt.'"
"Thank you to my remarkable Mother-in-law and Father-in-law for shielding Ella from the reality of this experience and giving her the time of her life while 'Mama’s back hurt,'” she wrote. "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."
Benanti explained the motivation behind sharing her miscarriage story publicly, writing, "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."
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