'I felt as though I didn't deserve to feel grief, I didn't deserve to feel sad.' Love Island's Sharon Gaffka on how her miscarriage left her feeling isolated - and why she's now backing a change in law so all women get the support they need
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Whenever Sharon Gaffka sees a mother pushing her baby in a pram or a toddler playing in the park, she starts to think of her own child – who would be celebrating their third birthday this summer. 'What would they look like? Who would they become? What would their name be?' the former Love Island contestant asks – as she begins to sob.
![[Sharon with fellow Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison as they campaign for better online protections for women and girls]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/16/94085517-14284107-image-a-38_1736871627006.jpg)
For the 29-year-old will never know the answers to these questions. Three years ago she suffered a devastating miscarriage that left her grieving, in pain and fearful of having children in the future. It took Sharon 18 months to speak about her experience publicly – revealing it to her 334,000 Instagram followers in August 2023.
![[Sharon has led a campaign to boost awareness of drink spiking, become an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Refuge, and has ambitions to become an MP]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/16/94085507-14284107-image-a-31_1736871247362.jpg)
But it is only now that she has chosen to share the full, candid details of her story with the Mail – as she campaigns for a change in the law to offer statutory miscarriage leave from work. Sharon found out she was pregnant in January 2022 – six months after appearing on the seventh series of Love Island.
![[Since appearing on the dating competition, Sharon has shown she is far from your standard influencer, instead working on a variety of campaigns]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/16/94085505-14284107-image-a-32_1736871254844.jpg)
The former civil servant won a legion of fans on the ITV reality show for her brains, eloquence and career ambitions – leading one male contestant to controversially complain she didn't want to be a 'housewife'. Sharon Gaffka found out she was pregnant in January 2022 – six months after appearing on the seventh series of Love Island.
![[It took Sharon 18 months to speak about her miscarriage experience publicly – revealing it to her 334,000 Instagram followers in August 2023]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/16/94085531-14284107-image-a-33_1736871270763.jpg)
Sharon with fellow Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison as they campaign for better online protections for women and girls. Indeed, since appearing on the dating competition, Sharon has shown she is far from your standard influencer. She has led a campaign to boost awareness of drink spiking, become an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Refuge, and has ambitions to become an MP.
