In a new interview, Jennifer Lawrence detailed her own experience with grief and loss, having experienced two miscarriages in the past.
Just a few years ago, it was almost impossible to go to the cinema and watch the latest blockbuster without seeing the features of Jennifer Lawrence on the screen. The golden girl of Hollywood was everywhere; starring alongside some of the world’s biggest names including the likes of Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper. And while you’d be forgiven for thinking an Oscar to your name – at such a young age – would see you reach a level of fame few could only ever dream of, Lawrence stayed only ever relatable to audiences with her trademark quick wit and goofy humour.
But perhaps it’s her most recent conversation that proves most relatable, as Lawrence detailed her own experience with miscarriage and showed that even despite fame and success, all of us experience the same emotions of grief and loss. Having recently welcomed a baby boy in early 2022, the 32-year-old star opened up about her two miscarriages – one that she had in her early 20s, and another while shooting Don’t Look Up.
Lawrence explained that when she discovered she was pregnant in her early 20s, she planned to get an abortion but ultimately had a miscarriage before the procedure. Speaking to Vogue, Lawrence said, “I had a miscarriage alone in Montreal.” But for her second miscarriage, she was required to get a D&C, a surge procedure where tissue is removed from the uterus.
Having lived through these two experiences and navigated the emotional evolution she expressed herself as a woman, Lawrence understood just how important the right to autonomy over our own bodies if for women, something that those in the United States no longer have a say in after the overturning of Roe v Wade. “I remember a million times thinking about it while I was pregnant,” said Lawrence.
“Thinking about the things that were happening to my body. And I had a great pregnancy. I had a very fortunate pregnancy. But every single second of my life was different. And it would occur to me sometimes: what if I was forced to do this?”
jennifer lawrence
Speaking about the current restrictions now in place over women’s reproductive rights across the United States, an issue that is made only more abhorrent by the fact that there are more restrictions on a woman’s body than there are gun laws in the country, Lawrence said it prompted deep reflection and conversation, particularly with her own family who are conservatives. “I just worked so hard in the last five years to forgive my dad and my family and try to understand: It’s different. The information they are getting is different. Their life is different,” explained Lawrence.
“I’ve tried to get over it and I really can’t. I can’t. I’m sorry I’m just unleashing, but I can’t fuck with people who aren’t political anymore. You live in the United States of America. You have to be political. It’s too dire. Politics are killing people.”
She added, “I don’t want to disparage my family, but I know that a lot of people are in a similar position with their families. How could you raise a daughter from birth and believe that she doesn’t deserve equality? How?”
As for how motherhood has changed her, Lawrence could only say: “My heart has stretched to a capacity that I didn’t know about.”
“I include my husband in that. And then they’re both just, like out there – walking around, crossing streets. He’s gonna drive one day. He’s gonna be a stupid teenager and be behind the wheel of a car. And I’m just gonna be like, Good night!You know? Like, who sleeps?”
She added, “I mean the euphoria of Cy is just – Jesus, it’s impossible. I always tell him, I love you so much it’s impossible.”
Source @womenshealth.com.au: Read more at : womenalive.org
