‘You are not alone’: Fans offer support for ‘General Hospital’ star after 7th miscarriage

After bravely sharing the heartbreaking news that she’d recently lost a pregnancy, actress Vanessa Marcil was quickly embraced by other women online who’ve gone through the same pain. The news was announced last week on Instagram, accompanied by a sweet photo of Marcil and her fiance, whom she only refers to as “MC” online.

The miscarriage was the seventh for the 49-year-old actress, according to Us Weekly.

“Our hearts are with Vanessa and MC who have lost baby OPM,” the Instagram post from Marcil’s team read. “Thank you for respecting their privacy as they heal and thank you for sharing all of your personal stories. You are not alone.”

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On screen, Marcil is best known for her role as Gina Kincaid in “Beverly Hills, 90210,” as well as for her lengthy role in “General Hospital” as Brenda Barrett, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award. She and MC announced they were expecting in November, saying, “It’s baby time. After six miscarriages we are saying prayers.”

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Of course Marcil, who’s the mother of a 15-year-old boy, is not alone, even just in Hollywood. Other celebrities have revealed their own heartbreaking stories of lost pregnancies. “Big Bang Theory” star Melissa Rauch wrote a powerful essay for Glamour about her experience with miscarriage, before giving birth to a healthy baby girl named Sadie. Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and her husband Andrew East also recently took to social media to share that Johnson had miscarried.

Fans on social media also embraced Marcil after the news broke. The Instagram announcement was liked about 7,000 times in the first few days after it was posted and dozens of women have commented, with some echoing the words “You are not alone.”

“I am so deeply sorry,” one user wrote on Marcil’s Instagram post. “I myself had had three miscarriages … I truly feel your pain and will keep you in my thoughts.”

“So sorry for your loss,” another user wrote. “I too just lost mine.”

The Key Points On Miscarriage

Of course, miscarriages affect women of all ages every year. According to the March of Dimes, most women who miscarry will go on to have a healthy pregnancy later on. Anywhere from 10 to 25 percent of pregnancies that are discovered will end in a miscarriage—typically during the first trimester. 

The risk of a miscarriage decreases during the second trimester to between 1 to 5 percent of pregnancies. Many more women have likely miscarried without knowing it, because the miscarriage happened before they even knew they were pregnant.

Most miscarriages are caused by a genetic problem that happens by chance, not a medical condition and certainly nothing a healthy woman has any control over. Miscarriages do, however, become more common as women get older.

Some risks for a miscarriage include:

• Being 35 or older.
• Smoking, drinking and using harmful drugs.
• Being exposed to dangerous chemicals.

How Common Are Repeated Miscarriages?

The heartbreak that goes along with numerous miscarriages, such as in Marcil’s case, is obviously devestating. About 1 percent of women will have repeat miscarriages, which is defined as two or more miscarriages in a row, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The cause is mostly unknown, and a majority of women who suffer them still go on to have healthy babies.

As more women (no matter their celebrity status) reveal their personal struggles with pregnancy, the biggest takeaway is always the message posted by several women on Marcil’s Instagram page: “You are not alone.”