Laura Prepon reveals she had to terminate her second pregnancy

When Laura Prepon was pregnant with her second child in 2018, a doctor delivered heartbreaking news.

“Our neonatal specialist told us the brain was not growing and the bones were not growing,” Prepon revealed in an interview with People magazine. “We were told the pregnancy would not go to full term and that my body was at risk carrying any longer.”

Prepon, who was 16 weeks along and in her second trimester, recalled how her husband, Ben Foster, held her in his arms as she cried.

The baby’s official diagnosis was a cystic hygroma, a cyst, or a group of cysts, which are caused by an abnormal development of the lymphatic vascular system.

“We had to terminate the pregnancy,” the "That '70s Show" alum told People.

Prepon “felt like a failure” and blamed herself for the baby's condition. She battled bulimia from her teens into her late twenties and wondered if that had something to do with it.

“I was scared that somehow the abuse I put my body through could have been part of the reason things went wrong,” she said. “Doctors confirmed it wasn’t, but in those moments it’s easy to punish yourself.”

The healing process was slow and painful, and when Prepon became pregnant again last year, she experienced a wide range of emotions.

“I couldn’t fathom going through it again,” she explained. “I was also ecstatic. I mean, it’s magical.”

Prepon and Foster's 3-year-old daughter, Ella, became a big sister in Feb. when they welcomed a baby boy.

The experience of losing a baby taught Prepon to take nothing for granted.

“It made me so thankful for the blessing we have now,” she said. “It put into perspective what a blessing it is to have a healthy child.”