Peta Murgatroyd has opened up about her heartbreaking fertility struggles – revealing that she suffered three devastating miscarriages in two years, including one while her husband Maks Chmerkovskiy was away in the Ukraine, before being diagnosed with PCOS.
Peta and Maks – who first started dating in 2012 and wed back in 2017 – welcomed a son together six months before their wedding, and they began trying to expand their family once again in 2020.
However, the couple has now revealed that they have suffered three tragic pregnancy losses over the last two years – but remain determined to give their five-year-old son, Shai, a sibling.
Professional dancer Peta, 35, recalled feeling ‘petrified, embarrassed, and ashamed’ after she miscarried for the first time in a Whole Foods bathroom in the fall of 2020, during an emotional new interview with People magazine.
Peta Murgatroyd has opened up about her heartbreaking fertility struggles – revealing that she suffered three devastating miscarriages in two years, before being diagnosed with PCOS
Peta and Maks (pictured in 2018) – who wed back in 2017 – welcomed a son together six months before their wedding, and they began trying to expand their family once again in 2020
However, the couple (seen in January) suffered from three tragic pregnancy losses over the last two years – but they are still determined to give their five-year-old son, Shai, a sibling
Peta said she sat on the supermarket’s toilet ‘sobbing’ and ‘wailing’ for hours by herself – admitting, that the moment ‘will probably live with her for the rest of her life.’
She then lost her second baby nine months later, days before she was set to jet off to New York to see her husband, 42, where she planned on sharing the exciting baby announcement with him. Instead, she had to break the terrible news that she had been pregnant but had miscarried.
The third miscarriage came in October 2021, while Maks was across the world in the Ukraine – where he was a judge on the country’s version of Dancing With the Stars.
At the time, the mom-of-one had contracted COVID-19 and became so weak that she said she couldn’t even open the fridge to feed her toddler.
She was rushed to the hospital after she woke up on Shai’s bedroom floor and realized she had fainted.
‘I had no strength. I couldn’t open a dishwasher. I couldn’t open the fridge to feed Shai, to get him some toast,’ she told People during the recent interview. ‘It got so bad that my breath was starting to be affected. It was really dramatic.’
After arriving at the hospital, doctors shared the shocking news that she had been five weeks pregnant – but unfortunately, she had lost the baby.
The professional dancer, 35, recalled feeling ‘petrified, embarrassed, and ashamed’ after she miscarried for the first time, during an emotional new interview with People magazine
Peta said it happened in a Whole Foods in the fall of 2020, and she sat on the toilet ‘wailing’ for hours by herself – admitting, that the moment ‘will probably live with her for the rest of her life’
She then lost her second baby nine months later. She and her husband are pictured in December 2021
At the time, she had no idea she had been expecting, and received the news while her husband listened from another country on speaker phone.
‘I ultimately had no idea [I was pregnant],’ she explained. ‘Which in hindsight, was better for my recovery because I didn’t have that super joyous moment of, “I’m pregnant again!” I just had the moment of, “You lost it.”‘
The Australian Dancing With the Stars alum said she had flown to Ukraine weeks earlier to visit her husband in the hopes of conceiving a baby.
‘I was like, “Screw it. I’m going to fly to you in Ukraine. I’m ovulating soon. Let’s make it happen,”‘ she recalled.
Unfortunately, after Peta caught COVID, her body struggled to handle the pregnancy while also fighting off the virus.
She said: ‘I felt like I was dying, but then I obviously knew what had happened. It was just all too much for my body and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me.’
Maks recalled feeling ‘helpless’ being thousands of miles away while his wife went through the immense loss.
The couple first started trying for a second baby three years after they welcomed their son. They were delighted when they became pregnant for a second time, but in the fall of 2020 – five weeks into the pregnancy – Peta said she walked into a Whole Foods to do some food shopping and lost her baby.
‘I was petrified. I was trying to tell myself, “It’s going to be OK.” Of course, deep down, I knew,’ she shared.
The third miscarriage came in October 2021, while Maks was across the world in the Ukraine. The couple is pictured together in Ukraine weeks before the miscarriage
The Australian Dancing With the Stars alum said she had flown to Ukraine weeks earlier to visit her husband in the hopes of conceiving a baby. They are pictured together on the trip
‘I was sitting in the bathroom sobbing. I’m surprised nobody walked in because I was crying so heavily and wailing, one of those deep cries.
Unfortunately, after Peta returned home and caught COVID, her body struggled to handle the pregnancy while also fighting off the virus. She is pictured with her son in March
‘That was something that will probably live with me for the rest of my life, being on that toilet by myself, knowing what was happening and not being able to stop it.’
The former Broadway star recalled feeling ‘completely embarrassed and ashamed.’
‘I didn’t even know how to utter the words and have that sentence come out of my mouth: “I had a miscarriage,”‘ she admitted.
‘I’m somebody who prides herself on health and wellness. I exercise every single day. But as I came to realize, that doesn’t really go hand-in-hand with the reproductive system.’
Maks called it the lowest point in their relationship, adding, ‘I think the darkest part is when the person you are in love with calls you and she says that she had a miscarriage in the bathroom, that’s as dark as it can get.’
She was rushed to the hospital after fainting, where she was told she had been pregnant but lost the baby. She and Maks are pictured two months after the miscarriage
The couple (pictured with their son in February) is now working with fertility doctors and have started in vitro fertilization – and are feeling hopeful that they will have a second child soon
Peta (pictured with Maks in April) was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder which can effect the reproductive system
Peta said it took ‘a very long time’ for her to ‘get over it,’ with her spending ‘months and months crying in bed by herself.’
The 35-year-old became pregnant again nine months later, and just days before she planned on flying to New York to surprise her husband with the exciting baby news, she miscarried again.
‘I had to call him and say, “It’s happened again,”‘ she said. ‘This was the first time that I heard him get really upset, which was hard to hear because I know how it affects him too.’
Maks, who has competed 17 times on DWTS over the years, said he didn’t think ‘two healthy, athletic people’ could be in a ‘predicament like that.’
The dancer said he ‘did his best’ to support Peta, adding that the entire experience changed him.
‘It’s a lot to process,’ he continued. ‘I think that if you look around, you will find that most of your friends have had issues [trying to conceive]. I realized that this is more common and this is not being talked about.’
After the third pregnancy loss, Peta – plagued with questions like, ‘Why can’t I have another child when it was so easy in the past? – decided to seek help from a specialist.
She was then told she had Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder which can effect the reproductive system.
The couple is now working with a team of fertility doctors and have started in vitro fertilization – and are feeling hopeful that they will have a second child soon.
‘For the first time in nearly two years, I feel excited,’ Peta gushed. ‘I’m in a much happier place. I got answers.’
Maks concluded, ‘I don’t have any other words but hope and positivity. I’m crossing my fingers that this is going to work.’
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