Real Life

Widow who lost husband last year pregnant with his child through IVF

This story will break your heart.
Kristen Tripson

Kristen Tripson

Kristen Tripson, a 34-year-old mum of two from Florida, announced on her Instagram page that she is expecting her third child – thanks to frozen embryos created while her husband was still alive.

Taking to social media, she wrote candidly: “Well. I’m pregnant. And, yes. It’s Sam’s.”

Kristen, who lost her beloved husband to Stage IV lymphoma in September, then explained her reasoning behind going through with the IVF, despite Sam’s death.

“In order to have more biological children after cancer treatment, Sam and I had to go through IVF,” she writes.

“It was wildly emotional, physically taxing and truly a post for another day. But it left us with 4 frozen embryos. Alice Ann was our first. We tried again this past summer with another, but I lost it very early. Two weeks after that, Sam relapsed and three weeks after that, he was gone.

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Kristen announced her pregnancy news with this shot

Kristen, her mother and her mother in law in February

“Though we never talked much about ‘the end,’ we did talk about our embryos. I know it’s a very personal, private subject, but to us, they were our potential children. On ice.

“It was always our plan, regardless of what happened, that they would have a chance at life. Over the past 6 months, there has never been a doubt as to what I was going to do. Even in the ICU during his final hours, I knew what I was going to do.

“After he was gone, I laid next to him for a long time. I prayed for the strength I would need to get up and leave the hospital and eventually, when I was ready, to move forward with our plans.

In February, Kristen was implanted with her and Sam’s remaining embryos – one of which grew into a strong baby.

“The way I see it, I get one and Sam gets one. Of course, it’s bittersweet,” she writes.

Kristen and Sam’s baby is due in October, something she says she is “beyond happy and excited” about.

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