Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington has opened up about being "cautiously overjoyed" and "taking each day as it comes" with her pregnancy after experiencing two miscarriages. The retired swimming star and mum-of-two, 36, announced last week in a moving social media post that she and her husband, Andy Parsons, are expecting a child, adding that it "has been an emotional and physical rollercoaster".
In an interview with HELLO!, Rebecca spoke about why she wanted to speak openly about her miscarriages, how it was "really empowering" to talk to others who have been through the same experience and how counselling helped her and her husband.
"I don't really know many people who haven't had their fertility struggles, or everybody knows somebody," she tells us. "The stats around miscarriage are huge, but also people trying to conceive significantly has become a lot harder over the past ten years as well, so we are very mindful that, whilst for us, it's been a long journey ourselves, there's still so many people waiting for their news and still waiting to be in that position as well, and especially for us, we also appreciate it's nerve-wracking.
"Yes, we managed that step of managing to get pregnant, but then we don't know whether we're going to go full-term, and then there's all this added worry because we've been there twice before, so it's not something that we're going into blind."
The Olympian had a miscarriage in August 2022, which required emergency surgery, and another one in October 2023 when it was discovered during a 20-week scan that there was "no heartbeat".
"I think the first time I had my miscarriage, I was just so blasé about it, I was like, everything's going to be fine because we had had two healthy children. So the fact that now we're just treating things very, very differently and just taking each day as it comes," Rebecca tells HELLO! frankly.
© Shutterstock"We're not even thinking ahead. Like, we're not buying anything, we're not taking bump photos. I'm not doing anything like that because it's just so, so different this time, and just taking each day as it comes and assessing from there. We're also getting great care from the NHS as well, I will say that. So we know if something doesn't feel right, they're on the other end of the phone, I can go in for an appointment, so we are receiving excellent care."
Breaking the silence
Despite approximately one in four pregnancies ending in miscarriage, there is still stigma worldwide surrounding pregnancy loss. Rebecca shares how important it was to her and her husband, Andy, to speak about their own experiences.
"Miscarriage is hard to talk about, it's hard to listen to, right? We totally understand, but I think from our perspective, just to help that conversation, it shouldn't be that people feel awkward," she says. "You're never going to make that person feel loads better by just sending a simple message, but it's just knowing that that support is there and you're not on your own, and you're not so lonely, I think it just means a lot." She adds that she found talking to other parents who have also experienced miscarriage "really empowering."
© Getty ImagesMeanwhile, Andy shared the devastating impact that the miscarriages had had on him in an emotive piece penned for The Times in August, detailing that he would cry on the train to work every morning. But he finally sought help as he and Rebecca had joint counselling through Petals, a charity founded in 2011 by a former NHS counsellor.
"I don't think we would have coped if it wasn't for Petals, with our second miscarriage," Rebecca tells HELLO!. "I think just having that time, it was online, it was just a dedicated hour that we got to process and we got to do it together. I think it really helped having counselling together, that was hugely powerful because you're going through very, very different things.
"It's the woman's body, but then the man feels helpless, and you deal with things very, very differently as a man and a woman. So I think having that time to understand each other and to process together, it absolutely made us stronger as a couple, and really helped us navigate a time where there were no answers, there was no rhyme or reason."
© Instagram / @beckadlingtonShe adds: "I think, for [Andy], it was difficult because everybody was asking him, 'How's Becky, how's Becky?' and he felt a bit pushed aside, and it was hard for him to navigate that, but he was going through the same loss as me. It was his child as well, and it's been amazing to see him being a bit more open and honest, because men, I think, naturally take that default step back and don't share how they're feeling."
Rebecca, who has since become an ambassador for Petals, describes their support as an "absolute lifeline".
Parenthood and bedtime battles
The swimming star juggles her busy career while being mum to Summer, ten, from her former marriage to Harry Needs, and Albie, four, whom she shares with Andy. She reveals that the children are "very excited" about her pregnancy and that Summer touches and kisses her belly every day.
Rebecca is currently promoting Hyundai's Rest Drives initiative, which is offering 24-hour test drives of the Kona Electric so families can use the car for real-life situations such as school pick-ups and drives with sleeping babies. Its recent survey found that 73 per cent of parents have resorted to a car ride just to help their child drift off – something which she can relate to!
As an electric car driver for five years, she shares that getting Albie to nap in the car was her "absolute saviour" and that she'll "definitely be going back to the car for naps," when the new baby arrives.
With four Olympic medals under her belt through her glittering career, Rebecca retired from the sport in 2013. She has since served as a pundit for the BBC's swimming coverage, most recently during the Paris 2024 Olympics and also as HELLO!'s Paris 2024 columnist. The next major event will be the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but Rebecca also works full-time at her learn to swim company, which is aiming to ensure that every child can swim as a "non-negotiable life skill".
