Rebecca Adlington details couples counselling with husband after tragic loss
Rebecca Adlington details couples counselling with husband after tragic loss
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Rebecca Adlington has detailed how she and husband, Andy Parsons, attended couples therapy together after suffering two tragic miscarriages. The former Olympic swimmer, who is a mum to kids Summer and Albie, lost a child at 12 weeks, in August 2022. Just a year later, Rebecca miscarried her daughter, Harper, at 20 weeks, and had to undergo an induced labour and stillbirth.
Crediting therapy for her ability to accept the tragedy, Rebecca says she and Andy worked with a counsellor to get to a more positive mindset. “I’ve had therapy before, so I knew a lot more about it, but Andy didn’t know what to expect and wasn’t sure. I think the fact that Petals offers counselling together, he was like, ‘Oh, OK, let’s do it together.’ I don’t think he would have gone if it was just him by himself. Doing something together was really, really beneficial and vital for us. We did it for three or four months and it helped us get out from under that really dark cloud. We both reacted and coped very differently so it helped us to understand what the other was going through.”.
Rebecca admits it was a “dark” time for her and Andy, however, she tells us they have now arrived at a place of acceptance, and she’s keen to help others do the same. “[Miscarriage] is a hard topic to talk about and to listen to. It’s not spoken about as much because people find it uncomfortable. When I mention miscarriage, they don’t know how to respond or they think I’m going to break down in a flood of tears. Of course, it’s incredibly devastating and heartbreaking, but I got to a point when I’d spoken about it so much. Now, I can talk about Harper without being in floods of tears,” explains Rebecca, who is an ambassador for baby loss charity Petals.
