Chrissy Teigen praised for opening up about loss of baby Jack with heartbreaking post

Chrissy Teigen was today praised for opening up about the loss of her baby while responding to people who criticised her for posting about the trauma.

The model and television personality, 34, and husband John Legend announced last month on social media they had lost their son, called Jack, at 20 weeks.

She shared a series of photographs from the hospital, including after she delivered her baby and the moment her family had to say goodbye to the child. But some critics questioned why she took photographs at such a painful time.

Last night, Teigen wrote an essay for Medium about miscarriage and explained how she insisted Legend document her time in hospital because she “absolutely knew I needed to share this story.”

Teigen, who is also mother to Luna, four, and Miles, two, was praised for her honesty online.

Ruth Matthews wrote: “Beautiful and heartbreaking to read. Let’s break the silence surrounding baby loss. I will carry these words with me today as I work on my research into stillbirth inequalities, important reminder of the devastation behind every statistic.”

Susie Sunshine added: “Thank you so very much for sharing your intimate story. It certainly makes me feel less alone in this type of experience. I had no idea so many others also went through this type of loss.”

Columist Eva Wiseman added: “Chrissy Teigen is such a good thing. This is heartbreaking and tender, and will help so many people.”

Writer Pandora Sykes wrote: "But for the grace (and powerful words) of @chrissyteigen"

Anne Kallas said: "Thank you for your extraordinary bravery."

Marie Cauley wrote: "Thank you for sharing with us-please don't ever feel bad about any of it. Joys & sorrows are both part of life..we're here for you & your family through it all. I know how important that support is from when my cousin went through it. I hope it was cathartic for you to write."

In the essay, she wrote: “I had asked my mom and John to take pictures, no matter how uncomfortable it was.

"I explained to a very hesitant John that I needed them, and that I did NOT want to have to ever ask. That he just had to do it. He hated it. I could tell.

"It didn’t make sense to him at the time. But I knew I needed to know of this moment forever, the same way I needed to remember us kissing at the end of the aisle, the same way I needed to remember our tears of joy after Luna and Miles.

"And I absolutely knew I needed to share this story.”

And directly addressing critics of the pictures, Teigen wrote: “I cannot express how little I care that you hate the photos. How little I care that it’s something you wouldn’t have done.

“I lived it, I chose to do it, and more than anything, these photos aren’t for anyone but the people who have lived this or are curious enough to wonder what something like this is like.

"These photos are only for the people who need them. The thoughts of others do not matter to me.”