Jason Kelce is opening up about his wife Kylie Kelce’s pregnancy loss seven years ago.
“I remember going out to my truck in the middle of practice and meetings, overcome with grief and emotion,” Jason, 38, recalled on Wednesday, December 3, while accepting the March of Dimes Sports Achievement Award at the nonprofit’s 43rd Annual Sports Luncheon in New York City.
According to People, the retired Philadelphia Eagles player said, “You really find out in moments like those how incredible sports and teams can be. So many people coaches, teammates, folks within the Eagles organization, friends of ours shared their experiences with me, and you realize how common this actually is. Miscarriages happen more often than people talk about, and it’s something that often goes unspoken.”
Jason called the experience “absolutely devastating” and said it was “hugely impactful” for him and Kylie, 33, to have support and realize they were “not alone in this.”
He concluded by thanking those who contribute their “time, resources, energy [and] passion” to the March of Dimes, an organization dedicated to the health of mothers and babies.
“The work that March of Dimes does is not abstract,” Jason said. “It’s not [a] statistic. This is family. This is kids. This is babies. The support everyone here gives to families and parents across the country cannot be understated. I greatly appreciate you being here and I appreciate this award.”
Kylie had introduced her husband, welcoming him onstage. In October, during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, she shared on her Not Gonna Lie podcast that she had a positive pregnancy test in August 2018. Several months later, on Jason’s birthday, November 5, she learned she’d lost the baby.
“I wanted to share more details because when I experienced my miscarriage, so many people came forward to support me and offer words of encouragement or love,” she said. “It’s interesting how sometimes it takes experiencing a loss for others to open up about their own.”
Related: Jason Kelce and Wife Kylie Kelce’s Relationship Timeline
Kylie, who shares daughters Wyatt, 6, Elliotte, 4, Bennett, 2, and Finn, 8 months, with Jason, became visibly emotional while recounting the couple’s initial excitement. She learned of her miscarriage at her 12-week appointment.
“It felt like everything went into slow motion. They could not find the baby on the Doppler,” she said. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, there isn’t a heartbeat. You didn’t find one because there isn’t one.’ They estimated the baby had stopped developing between nine and ten weeks. Essentially, I had what’s referred to as a missed miscarriage, which means your body did not realize the pregnancy was no longer viable.”
Kylie emphasized that the pain remains even after having four children. “This still hurts,” she said. “And it’s OK for people who are still on their journey and haven’t yet met your tiny humans I am so sorry. For people who have experienced a loss and have met some of their tiny humans, I am also sorry, because it doesn’t not hurt.”
