Coronation Street star Simon Gregson shared the emotional details of his and his wife's family journey and her 11 heartbreaking miscarriages.
The soap star has been married to Hollyoaks actress Emma Gleave since 2010. The two have three sons, Alfie, 14, Henry, 12, and five-year-old Teddy.
Simon has always shared many photos of his gorgeous family, with his wife and sons also supporting him while he was on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
However, the couple's journey to becoming parents had a lot of ups and downs over the years.
Emma suffered 11 miscarriages with one baby, a girl, tragically dying at 21 weeks (five months).
Simon, who plays Steve McDonald on the soap, told Tim Vincent on The Likely Dads podcast: "We lost 11 along the way. It was horrific. The first one was 21 weeks.
"When Emma lost Georgia, she was 21 weeks, and what had happened was Emma’s tubes were twisted, but Georgia stayed alive long enough to untwist the tubes which they said it was amazing how she survived all that and then went."
He added: "But that paved the way for Alfie you see, so we always think of her as like an angel.
"But then we lost loads along the way. I think it’s because Emma can’t carry girls for some reason."
Simon went through a tough time when his character went through something similar on the long-running soap.
A Corrie storyline addressed baby loss for Steve and his then-partner Michelle Connor (played by Kym Marsh ). She lost her son Archie a few moments after his birth at 21 weeks in February 2009.
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"I think the worst thing was when they made it into a storyline," he added. "They didn’t know what had happened with me.
"It was with Kym, and Kym had lost a child. So of course, you know, they asked her whether she would do the storyline and of course, she didn’t want to see – it’s a prosthetic baby and it’s amazing and it was dressed exactly the same as he was, you know, which I think is what she requested because she wanted the emotions to be real, but it was like this is a one-take time."
His character's storyline helped him open up about his and his wife's experience as he felt that men were never asked how they dealt with loss.
"It was awful yes, but they didn’t know so all the interviews were 'How does she feel, how does she feel?' and I had to interject and say 'Do you know what, it’s not easy for the guy either'," he added.
The Miscarriage Association (01924 200 799) miscarriageassociation.org.uk supports women affected by miscarriage, ectopic and molar pregnancies. If you’re worried about a loved one you can also call the helpline which is manned Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm, or email info@miscarriageassociation.org.uk
