Nick Viall, Natalie Joy reveal heartbreaking miscarriage
Nick Viall's wife Natalie Joy is opening up about the loss of their second child.
On the latest episode of Viall's podcast "The Viall Files," released on Wednesday, Joy revealed that she is "actively miscarrying" their second child.
"It has been the biggest heartbreak, I think, of my life," Joy said. "I've never experienced something where I feel so empty inside."
"It's gonna take a long time to heal from this, but it is raw and we're feeling it right now," she added.
Joy, who welcomed her first child River with the former "Bachelor" star in February 2024, said that she was "spot-bleeding" for a while.
"I definitely was freaked out at the first sign of blood," she said. "I immediately reached out to my sister who had 12 miscarriages and one daughter, and she was like, this is normal, everything is fine."
Viall said he began Googling what the bleeding meant, and after reading some statistics about spot bleeding during pregnancy, he said that they tried not to worry. But Joy said, "I think I knew from the jump, but I didn't want to accept that. And then it just got heavier and heavier."
Joy said that she went to the bathroom and was "screaming and crying," describing that night as "the hardest night of my life."
Viall recalled Joy saying that she "felt" the miscarriage happening and remembered there being blood.
"I remember that it was very traumatic for me," he said.
Joy said that when her doctor confirmed that Joy had miscarried, she felt "re-broken."
"Just experiencing that is something I wouldn't wish upon anyone," she said. "Unfortunately, I know a lot of women do experience it. I just feel for these people so much because it's like I was so mad at my body for letting it go. I was like, why couldn't you just hold on to it? Why did you have to let it go?"
The term miscarriage "refers to a failure or end of pregnancy in any trimester," former ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton told "Good Morning America" in October 2021 during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
"Typically, we consider a miscarriage occurring in the first and second trimester, and a third trimester miscarriage as a stillbirth. That is the lay terminology," Ashton said at the time, adding that there are many factors that determine "a woman's risk for having a miscarriage, but in general, a singular miscarriage is incredibly common. Most women can or will suffer a miscarriage a lot of times even before they even know that they're pregnant."
According to the American Pregnancy Association, "studies reveal that anywhere from 10-15% of all clinically recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriage," and "chemical pregnancies may account for 50-75% of all miscarriages."
The organization noted that miscarriages "can be very difficult" and the "emotional impact usually takes longer to heal than physical recovery does."
In Wednesday's "Viall Files" episode, Joy told Viall that she is "grateful" to have him.
"It was the worst thing I have ever been through, but you made it as easy as it could have been to go through and you did everything right, which I feel like is impossible to do in those situations, and yet you managed," she told him.
Joy added that she's "still bleeding every time I go to the restroom" and is "reminded of what has happened."
The couple said that they wanted to share their experience with other moms out there and those who desire to be a mom, particularly "those who have had a challenge conceiving."
"Our hope for this episode is to just hopefully allow people like Natalie to feel seen that have gone through this experience, because it's incredibly traumatic for even the dads, but especially the moms," Viall said. "You really feel alone because there's always this you know, 'I'm sorry for your loss, but hey what do you want to do this weekend?' There's definitely a disconnect."
Said Joy, "I want to show people ... you're not alone."
Joy added that she didn't want to forget the experience, or for the pregnancy to "have just been like a blip in our lives."
"I want River to be able to watch this back and see her parents' love for her sibling that could have been here," she said.
