The Vampire Diaries actress Claire Holt has said she has suffered a miscarriage.
The 29-year-old was expecting a baby with her fiance, Andrew Joblon, but lost her child last month.
Taking to Instagram on Monday to share her story, Holt urged others who go through a similar loss not to stay silent and told fans that speaking out was helping her to heal her pain.
“I took this photo 10 days ago, as I waited for surgery after my sweet little baby lost its heartbeat. I sent it to my fiance in the waiting room to show him that I was okay. I wasn’t,” she wrote, sharing a photograph of herself in hospital clothes and showing a thumbs up.
“I’ve never felt more broken in my life. I debated sharing this so soon and I’m still frightened about making such a private struggle public, but I’m doing it anyway because it’s important.
“After my D&C [dilation and curettage], I spent hours on the internet searching for women who had been through it. I was desperate to find someone, anyone, who could relate to what I was feeling,” she wrote.
“Someone to tell me that the depression and hopelessness were normal. That it wasn’t my fault. That I wasn’t broken forever,” she continued.
“I found a community of women who shared my exact experience. Who were open and vulnerable about miscarriage, something that isn’t often or openly discussed.
“It breaks my heart to think that losing a baby feels like something we have to keep to ourselves. Why is it any different than the death of a loved one? How is it any less meaningful?”
