Dame Laura Kenny admits she and husband Jason couldn't talk about her 'horrendous' miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy because they were 'consumed' by their own grief
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Dame Laura Kenny has bravely opened up about her heartbreaking experiences while trying to conceive her second child with seven-time cycling champion Jason Kenny.
In a candid interview with The Times, the 32-year-old Olympian detailed suffering a miscarriage in November 2021 and two months later having to have a fallopian tube removed due to an ectopic pregnancy.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a pregnancy develops outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes. An ectopic embryo will not survive and the pregnancy will miscarry.
The cycling pro, who announced her retirement from the sport back in March, admitted that she and husband Jason, 36, were unable to talk about the loss because they were 'consumed' by their own grief.
Dame Laura explained: 'I just couldn’t speak to anyone. I wasn’t the very open Laura I am normally. I didn’t know how to voice how I was feeling...'
Dame Laura Kenny has bravely opened up about her heartbreaking experiences while trying to conceive her second child with seven-time cycling champion Jason Kenny (Laura pictured at Wimbledon in June)
In a candid interview with The Times , the 32-year-old Olympian detailed suffering a miscarriage in November 2021 and two months later having to have a fallopian tube removed due to an ectopic pregnancy (pictured in 2021)
She continued: 'Everyone forgets about the man. I appreciate I’d had to go through a really scary operation but he was having to hold the fort at home and it was all, "Is Laura OK?"
'Not once did anyone ask about him. Actually, a lady did once in a Q&A and he just choked up in front of an audience of 300 people. So I couldn’t share with him how bad I was feeling, because I knew he felt even worse.
'We both just kept it in. I was consumed by my own brain.'
Jason and Laura then welcomed son Monty in August a last year. A younger sibling to their son Albie, six.
The British five-time Olympic gold medallist previously opened up about how she wanted a baby more than any sporting medal.
Talking to Women's Health, she said: 'I cannot tell you how sad I was for a year to 18 months. I mean, you could ask Jase how I was, I was a different person.
'I just went within myself because it was consuming. And all I wanted was this little baby; I didn't want gold medals, you know, I didn't want to go and race in the Commonwealth Games. I wanted a baby. And it just wasn't happening.'
Before the birth of her second son and a year after her ectopic pregnancy Laura won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games but admitted she didn't find happiness in the win.
Jason and Laura then welcomed son Monty in August a last year. A younger sibling to their son Albie, six
She explained: 'I was like, why will [my body] do that and it won't do the one thing that I just want the most...
'I felt like I was living in this yin and yang world where you could only have one of them.'
Laura candidly described this period as 'the toughest' of her life - and it was not easy on Jason either.
'No one asked him if he was okay, and how he was feeling,' she explained.
'And so I guess I totally underestimated how much I was using him and how much I was talking to him and never actually saying, "Jase, are you actually okay yourself?"
Laura announced her retirement in March of this year, and speaking in a BBC interview she explained: 'I always knew deep down I would know when was the right time.
'I have had an absolute blast but now is the time for me to hang that bike up.
'It's been in my head a little while, the sacrifices of leaving the children and your family at home is really quite big and it really is a big decision to make.
'More and more, I was struggling to do that.
'More people were asking me what races was I doing, what training camps was I going on - I didn't want to go and that's what it came down to.
'I was getting these hesitant feelings. Going on to win another gold medal, as much as I would love to do that, it wasn't giving me the energy I wanted anymore.
'I wasn't thinking, "I really want to go on and win one". I was thinking, "I really want to stay at home with the children".'
Dame Laura is Great Britain's most successful female Olympian with five gold medals (pictured at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics)
Laura won golds in the omnium and team pursuit at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.
After giving birth to her first son Albie in 2017, she went on to win the madison with Katie Archibald at Tokyo 2020, as well as a silver in the team pursuit. She also claimed seven world titles.
During the candid interview, she also revealed that the miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy had more of a 'thing to play in' the decision than 'I had ever realised'.
She said: 'I was quite open about having a miscarriage and the ectopic [pregnancy].
'I think maybe that had more of a thing to play in it than I'd ever kind of realised or anticipated.
'All I ever wanted for Albie was a sibling. I just always saw Albie as a big brother - and for that to maybe not happen and for me to maybe not have another baby...
'Then once he was here and I did have another one, I just didn't want to waste that time'.
For help and support contact The Miscarriage Association on 01924 200799
