Singer Reba McIntire's family is facing another painful loss. Her son, Shelby Blackstock, and his wife, Marissa Blackstock, revealed that they have suffered a miscarriage. The news comes in what has already been an extraordinarily difficult year for the family. The couple's heartbreak follows the recent death of Brandon Blackstock, Reba's former son-in-law and Shelby's half-brother, earlier this year. Marissa also lost her own father just days before learning she was pregnant.
© WireImageOn Friday December 5, 2025, Marissa shared the devastating update on Instagram. "I've carried more loss this year than I ever imagined I could. First my brother-in-law, then my dad… and now our little boy," she wrote.
"Grief has a way of reshaping your world, and I’ve learned that to survive it, you have to search for even the faintest glimmer of meaning – the small silver thread that helps your heart keep going."
© Getty ImagesMarissa went on to explain that she and Shelby discovered they were expecting on Thanksgiving morning, just one day after her father died. "Our little boy was that for me," she wrote, describing the joy and hope they felt after trying to conceive for three years. This was the first time she had ever had a positive pregnancy test.
Sadly, the pregnancy ended soon afterward. "Though he began to slip away in the days that followed, and today confirmed what we already knew… he still gave us something precious," she shared. That precious gift, Marissa noted, was a reminder that "my body can do this. That hope isn’t gone."
© Getty ImagesShe acknowledged that the miscarriage occurred very early in the pregnancy and said she felt compelled to speak publicly "to acknowledge this for the people who have been excited for us. The ones who’ve followed our journey, our family, our heartbreaks and our hopes."
"Life happens quietly sometimes, and it's such a shame we don’t talk about it more," she added. Despite their loss, Marissa ended her message with determination and optimism, writing that she is not giving up on her dream of becoming a mother.
© GettyReba got emotional recently over the passing of her late former stepson Brandon on an episode of The Voice. The late talent manager, the 'I'm a Survivor' singer's ex-husband Narvel Blackstock's son, passed away in August 2025 aged 48, after a battle with melanoma, a form of skin cancer. He was a father to four children, two, Savannah and Seth, whom he shared with ex-wife Melissa Ashworth, and another two, River and Remington, whom he shared with ex-wife Kelly Clarkson.
"I lost my oldest son because he did not win with cancer," Reba said on the show, referring to Brandon, to whom she was a stepmother during her marriage to Narvel, from 1989 until 2015. "That was a real reminder that life goes on, and we sing songs about it so we can remember the ones around us that we love so much, that we lean on at times like this."
