A resurfaced video of Debbie Reynolds recounting the harrowing story about her baby dying inside of her and her having to carry the stillborn child to term has gone viral in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of the Roe v. Wade ruling.
The late actress opened up about the severe pain she felt after losing her baby seven months into the pregnancy and not being allowed to have the dead fetus removed amid abortion laws in the U.S. during an old interview with Joan Rivers, which has recently gone viral.
According to the Singing in the Rain star, after welcoming her daughter, Carrie Fisher, in 1956 and her son, Todd Fisher, in 1958 – whom she had with her first husband, singer Eddie Fisher – she became pregnant with her third child in 1962.
However, when it tragically died before it was born, she was forced to carry the deceased baby for six weeks which resulted in her nearly losing her life and suffering from a pain she said she ‘never forgot.’
A resurfaced video of Debbie Reynolds recounting the harrowing story about her baby dying inside of her and her having to carry the stillborn child to term has gone viral
The late actress opened up losing her baby and not being allowed to have the fetus removed during an old interview with Joan Rivers. She is seen two years after losing her baby in 1964
According to the star, after welcoming her daughter, Carrie Fisher, in 1956 and her son, Todd Fisher, in 1958 she became pregnant with her third child. She is seen with her kids in 1958
Now, clips from the 1989 interview have been making their way around social media, after the Supreme Court recently reversed the Roe V. Wade ruling which will allow states to ban abortion.
Reynolds, who passed away in 2016 at age 84 after suffering from a severe stroke, explained that after she married businessman Harry Karl in 1960, the two decided to start trying for a baby.
‘I wanted to have four children,’ she recalled. ‘I had Carrie and Todd and I wanted two other children. I got pregnant right away, I was very lucky in that sense.’
However, the businesswoman revealed that seven and a half months into the pregnancy, the baby ‘died inside of her,’ explaining that she realized something had gone wrong when her stomach started to ‘shrink.’
But because it happened 11 years before the 1973 passing of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in America, her doctors refused to take the deceased fetus out of her.
‘This happens to a lot of ladies,’ she continued. ‘It was a very hard thing to get over. In those days there were no abortions allowed, whether you were ill or whether you were raped or whether the child died – which is disgusting to think that there were those laws, it’s ridiculous.
‘I had to carry the child full term, that was the law. It had to abort itself, it could not be taken from me.’
Now, clips from the 1989 interview have been making their way around social media, after the Supreme Court recently reversed Roe V. Wade which will allow states to ban abortion
Reynolds, who passed away in 2016 at age 84, explained that after she married businessman Harry Karl in 1960, the two decided to start trying for a baby. They are seen at their wedding
However, Reynolds (pictured with her first husband, Eddie Fisher, after the birth of her daughter, Carrie) revealed that seven months into the pregnancy, the baby ‘died inside of her’
Because it happened before the 1973 passing of Roe v. Wade, her doctors refused to take the deceased fetus out of her. Reynolds is seen with daughter Carrie in 1956
According to the CDC a stillbirth is different from a miscarriage as it happens after the 20th week of pregnancy.
The organization added that it affects about one in 160 births, and that each year, about 24,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.
The late actress recalled friends and family members, who were unaware that her baby had died, often rejoicing about the pregnancy and asking her things like, ‘What name are you going to name the baby?’
She shared: ‘People would ask what I’m going to name the baby. [The pain from it] is something I have never forgotten, and a lot of women go through this sort of thing.’
Reynolds said doctors only agreed to do an abortion after she she began to get sick from the dead baby, adding that the ‘poisons’ from it almost ‘killed her.’
‘They couldn’t leave it anymore because now … all the poisons and everything would have killed me,’ she said.
‘So they finally agreed – some board – that they would try to take this child out. At this point, it was more dangerous than ever.’
The movie star said it took ‘over a year’ for her to physically and mentally heal from the life-threatening incident.
Reynolds (pictured in 1956 with Eddie and Carrie) said doctors only agreed to do an abortion after she she began to get sick from the dead baby
The movie star said it took ‘over a year’ for her to physically and mentally heal from the life-threatening incident. She is seen in 1963, one year after she lost her baby
She then became pregnant again, but unfortunately, the same thing happened to her. This time, she decided to put her foot down. She is pictured with her two kids in 1973
She then became pregnant again, but unfortunately, the same thing happened to her. But this time, she decided to put her foot down.
‘I said, “I don’t want a note from congress, you are taking this baby now because I don’t want to have to go through what I went through before,”‘ Reynolds (seen in 2015 with her daughter) said
‘The second baby dies, just like that, for no reason at all,’ she recalled. ‘The second time I said, “I don’t want a note from congress, I don’t want a note from any of you. You are taking this baby now because I don’t want to have to go through what I went through before.”
‘And they did. The law was still in existence that said that couldn’t be, but [they knew] they almost let me die [the first time] because of that silly law, so they were able to abort the child.’
Although Reynolds said it was ‘very hard for her to get over mentally,’ she explained that she was able to use her faith to get through it.
‘I’m religious and I do believe in a higher being and I do believe you are strong,’ she explained.
She also dove back into working, which helped distract her from the pain. Reynolds revealed that she had previously turned down her role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown when she found out she was pregnant, but after she lost the baby, she was given an opportunity to join the cast after Shirley MaClaine, whom had ultimately been cast in it, had to leave due to a lawsuit.
After losing the babies, Reynolds said diving back into work helped her get through it and she landed a role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (pictured) soon after
Although Reynolds (seen in 2012) said it was ‘very hard for her to get over mentally,’ she explained that she was also able to use her faith to get through it
‘I had lost the baby, which was a devastation to me, but I got the film,’ she said. ‘In a way, God was good to me.
‘I lost, I had a terrible loss, certainly losing a child – a movie doesn’t make up for it. But it put me right back to work and when you work, that’s the best thing.’
Many people are now sharing the interview online, with one Twitter user claiming it is as an example of what could ‘happen again’ now that Roe v. Wade has been revoked.
‘I can’t begin to put into words my feelings about the recent barbaric decision to overturn Roe vs Wade in the Dystopian States of America. This is Debbie Reynolds speaking about her own experience in the ’60s… it’s hard to listen to but this is what’s going to happen again,’ they wrote, alongside a clip from Reynolds’ interview.
Their post racked up more than 5,000 retweets and 10,000 likes, and sparked others to share similar stories.
‘My mother had this happen. She had to carry to full term. She and my dad didn’t tell anyone,’ one person responded.
‘I still think, at 84, this is what broke her. My [sister-in-law’s] first pregnancy the baby died in utero.
‘My [mother-in-law] kept calling her to tell her to NOT have an abortion, the doctor is probably wrong. WTF.’
Many people are now sharing the interview online, with one Twitter user claiming it is as an example of what could ‘happen again’ now that Roe v. Wade has been revoked
Their post racked up more than 5,000 retweets and 10,000 likes, and sparked others to share similar stories
Another person tweeted, ‘In 1992, a catholic hospital would not do a [dilation and curettage procedure] for an incomplete miscarriage. I almost died.’
‘What she is describing happened to me in 1986,’ said someone else. ‘I was pregnant, fetus died at 12 weeks.
‘I was told that eventually my body would expel the dead fetus. At 20 weeks, I finally went into labor. I was forced to go through the entire experience with out pain medication in a Catholic hospital.
‘No pain med because I wasn’t having a “real, live baby” so it couldn’t be as painful. I had to look at broken up tissue and tiny body parts. It was a horrible experience.
‘Finally, after 12 hours they did a D&C. I was sent home with no instructions. My body thought it had a baby and my milk came in.
‘I developed mastitis and had to pump my milk to help clear it up. I should have been able to abort as soon as the fetus died.’
‘My mother had a similar story,’ wrote a different user. ‘She got German Measles early in the pregnancy and had to carry it to term knowing the issues at hand.
‘Caroline was born with her heart outside her chest, her head was open and her brain exposed. She died 45 minutes after birth.’
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