Geelong AFL star Gary Rohan has opened up about the pain of losing a child, memories that recently resurfaced after his wife Madi suffered a miscarriage.
Rohan and Madi are currently expecting their first child together, their ‘rainbow baby’, after deciding to try again after the miscarriage.
The Cats star already has two children, both with his ex-wife Amie. However, he revealed that they had lost their third daughter Willow Nevaeh, who died just five hours after birth.
Willow’s heartbreaking death was the result of a fatal neural tube defect with no cure, known as anencephaly.
So when Rohan and his current wife Madi had to go through the heartache of a miscarriage last year, it brought back all the old pain the Geelong star had gone through with Willow.
“I lost a child with my last partner, so this obviously brought back a lot of memories,” he said News Corp.
“Willow, she had anencephaly, where part of the skull doesn’t fit together. We knew she would have no life after birth.
“We had five wonderful hours with Willow before she got her wings and left.”
Rohan was on top of the world after winning an AFL premiership and expecting a child with wife Madi, but the couple would soon receive the heartbreaking news
Madi proudly shows off her baby bump as the couple overcomes miscarriage and heartbreak to announce their new pregnancy
The couple shared a scan of their child on Instagram and said they were excited to meet their ‘rainbow baby’
That left Rohan and Madi with a big decision and they decided to try again for their first child together.
In mid-2023, the Cats star proudly announced on Instagram that they were ‘Grow’n a Rohan’.
“Our rainbow baby is on the way,” the message read.
“What felt like the longest journey to hear your heartbeat was worth every second to soon have you in our arms.
‘We are so happy to be your mom and dad.
“We would like to take a moment to acknowledge those who are seeing this message with broken hearts. A feeling that Mads and I know all too well.
“When it feels like the whole world is getting pregnant, and you’re in unimaginable grief after losing your own grief, that’s the hardest post to watch.
‘We want to say to everyone who knows or is experiencing this feeling: know that you are not alone. We hear you, we see you, we feel you. Mads and I are with you, we are 1 in 4.”
Rohan said the miscarriage had been a double whammy, bringing back memories of losing his child Willow to a rare medical condition.
Madi also opened up about the heartbreak of the miscarriage and deciding to move on and start a family.
“We didn’t want to tell a lot of people early because we didn’t know how to word things if something went wrong again,” she said.
‘We had a lot of friends who had trouble getting pregnant, and we really took that into account.
‘It was a big decision for us, and we wanted to make sure it wasn’t told before we could tell it, which was a risk because of Gary’s higher profile.
“We tried to announce it in a way that took into account those who were struggling.”
“I didn’t blame myself for the miscarriage, it is what it is, but the second time you pay much more attention to the advice out there,” she said.
“We really wanted a family, and it’s something we wanted as soon as possible, but you’re so aware now of what could potentially go wrong.
“If something had happened again I probably would have blamed myself more, but I guess everything seems to be fine, our lucky stars.”