Chrissy Teigen has shared a photo of her new tattoo in honour of her and John Legend’s late son, Jack, who was tragically lost in early October.
The model and cookbook author showed her millions of Instagram followers a peek at the sentimental ink amid a series of photos shared to her Instagram Stories, which also she herself getting ready for a date night with Legend.
The photo in question showed Teigen’s outstretched arm and her hand in Legend’s across the table, with the word “Jack” written delicately in the inside of her right wrist. It appears next to the name “John” on her forearm. Teigen also has tattoos for the couple’s children, Luna and Miles.
Teigen opened up about her pregnancy loss in an Instagram post showing heartbreaking images of herself still in the hospital shortly after it had occurred “about halfway through her pregnancy”, where she also revealed that she and John had planned to name him Jack.
Teigen also opened up about the painful, life-changing experience in an essay on Medium, where she thanked her well-wishers and explained why she chose to share the personal images, which received both support and, from a small minority, backlash.
“It feels right to begin with a thank you,” Teigen wrote early in the essay.
“For weeks, our floors have been covered in flowers of kindness. Notes have flooded in and have each been read with our own teary eyes. Social media messages from strangers have consumed my days, most starting with, ‘you probably won’t read this, but…’. I can assure you, I did.”
She continued, describing she had been diagnosed with partial placenta abruption, and that despite close monitoring and “bags and bags of blood transfusions”, both her and Jack’s lives were at risk.
“After a couple nights at the hospital, my doctor told me exactly what I knew was coming—it was time to say goodbye. He just wouldn’t survive this, and if it went on any longer, I might not either. We had tried bags and bags of blood transfusions, every single one going right through me like we hadn’t done anything at all,” she wrote.
“Late one night, I was told it would be time to let go in the morning. I cried a little at first, then went into full-blown convulsions of snot and tears, my breath not able to catch up with my own incredibly deep sadness. Even as I write this now, I can feel the pain all over again. Oxygen was placed over my nose and mouth, and that was the first picture you saw. Utter and complete sadness.
On why she chose to share the deeply personal experience, Teigen said:
“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.
“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.”
