Rebecca Adlington in heartbreaking admission after baby loss and split from husband

Wales Online

2 days ago

Rebecca Adlington in heartbreaking admission after baby loss and split from husband
The two-time Olympic champion and Team GB icon has opened up on a 'devastating' time in her life
Adlington has opened up on suffering two devastating miscarriages
Former Team GB swimming hero Rebecca Adlington has opened up on the immense heartbreak she experienced after going through two devastating miscarriages.
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The 36-year-old - who shot to fame as a teenager by winning two gold medals in the pool at the 2008 Beijing Olympics - is now a mother of two, but she and husband Andy Parsons have also experienced tragedy in their efforts to raise a family together, with the swimmer suffering two miscarriages just a year apart.
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The first occurred in 2022 and was discovered during a hospital visit for her 12-week scan, with Adlington requiring emergency surgery and treatment for sepsis and a kidney infection in what she told her Instagram followers was a "devastating time".
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However, there would be more heartbreak just a year later as she suffered another miscarriage at 20 weeks pregnant, with her daughter Harper stillborn in October 2023.
At the time, the "truly heartbroken" couple released a statement saying they would "forever love" their daughter, with Adlington writing: "I don't really have the words right now but unfortunately we went for our 20-week scan this week and they found no heartbeat
"I gave birth to our angel, Harper, on Friday at 7pm. We held her, and had time with her. We will forever love her and remember her always. I don't have the strength or words right now and don't feel ready to share this news
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"However, I can't pretend to be ok or fake a smile. I can't have people ask me how pregnancy is or when I am due as I still look pregnant. I don't have the strength to tell this news individually," she added. "We are so truly heartbroken. Our beautiful girl. Rest in peace."
Adlington has now opened up on the heartbreaking losses during an appearance on This Morning, explaining how she cried for days following the loss of Harper and began to "hate" her body in the aftermath.
"We were a mess," said the former Olympic champion as she appeared on the ITV show alongside her husband. "I could not stop crying for three days. I couldn't process it.
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"As a woman, you blame yourself, the guilt, what have I done? There was no rhyme or reason. I followed every single rule you get told to do. You can't help but feel it's your responsibility."
"I was angry at my body, my body let me down," Adlington added. "I had no symptoms, that was really hard to get over. The fact you give birth and the baby isn't alive and you go home and look in the mirror as a woman and still look 20 weeks pregnant... It's incredibly hard. I hated my body."
The Team GB icon now shares son Albie, four, with Parsons, while she is also mum to daughter Summer, 10, from her relationship with ex-husband Harry Needs.
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It is now 17 years since Adlington burst onto the scene and became a household name at the age of 19, with her wins in the 400m and 800m freestyle races seeing her become the first woman to win swimming gold for Team GB in nearly 50 years, as well as the first British swimmer to win more than one gold medal at a single Olympics in a century.
The Mansfield swimmer went on to add Commonwealth, European and World Championship golds to her tally, as well as two bronze medals at the London Olympics in 2012, while she has gone on to have a successful career in punditry with the BBC and tried her hand at reality TV, starring on shows including I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Celebrity MasterChef and The Jump.
However, while she has experienced career success, Adlington's personal life has seen her go through some difficult times of late, having split from her first husband and received a life-changing diagnosis either side of her heartbreaking miscarriages.
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Adlington married Needs in 2014, five years after they met as young professional swimmers, and they welcomed their daughter Summer less than a year later.
However, the following year, their 18-month marriage came to an "amicable" end, with a statement from the couple reading: "It's after much thought and sadness that we confirm our separation. It is on amicable terms and we still remain close friends.
"We move forward with respect for one another and our focus and commitment is on parenting our gorgeous daughter Summer."
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Four years later, Needs publicly came out as bisexual, explaining that he had "never had the time to explore his sexuality fully" before his marriage to Adlington.
Admitting that this caused him to suffer with anxiety and depression, the personal trainer told GuysForYou: "I didn't say a thing. For me personally, my journey with Rebecca was a destination to love.
"I think as an unconfident bisexual man it was extremely difficult back then to admit it even to myself, especially considering I had zero experience with the same sex. Once I knew I loved Rebecca, I was committed to that relationship and its journey for the rest of my life."
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Explaining how Adlington supported him after he came out to her a year after they separated, he added: "I never felt I deceived her, because I loved her and like I already said, I never had the time to discover my full sexuality." Adlington went on to find love with facilities manager Parsons, with the pair dating for three years after meeting on dating site Bumble, before tying the knot in 2021.
Earlier this year, the Olympic champion won widespread praise after revealing that she had been diagnosed with coeliac disease, an auto-immune condition in which your immune system attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten, causing damage to the small intestine and causing symptoms including stomach pains, bloating, indigestion, constipation, fatigue and diarrhoea.
Sharing her diagnosis in a video on Coeliac UK's Instagram page, Adlington urged ollowers to support the "vital" cause for gluten-free prescriptions, in order for those with the condition to be able to manage it appropriately.
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Making an appeal to followers to sign a petition to avoid these prescriptions being cut, she said: "Hello everyone. As someone newly diagnosed with coeliac disease, I have definitely quickly learnt how vital gluten-free prescriptions are for managing this condition.
"But in some areas, these prescriptions are totally being cut. Coeliac UK is handing a petition to Number 10 to make sure we're heard, so please sign and share the petition today."
The petition received a remarkable 22,826 signatures and was delivered to Downing Street earlier this year.