Actor Penn Badgley is sharing a deeply personal and painful chapter from his life, revealing that he and his wife, Domino Kirke, nearly separated after experiencing two consecutive miscarriages. The couple, who have since welcomed twins, opened up about the profound isolation and grief that followed their losses.
The Pain of Consecutive Pregnancy Loss
Back in 2020, Domino Kirke, a doula and singer, first shared that she had suffered "two miscarriages in a row" before becoming pregnant with their first child together. She expressed on Instagram at the time that the experience led her to stop trusting her body and to consider giving up on having more children. Domino, who has a 16-year-old son named Cassius from a previous relationship, has been married to Badgley since 2017.
Now, in a candid discussion on the Totally Booked podcast, Penn has elaborated on how this difficult period tested their relationship to its limits.
A Relationship on the Brink
Reading from his debut essay collection, Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age, podcast host Zibby Owens shared an excerpt where Badgley wrote, "This was our second loss together... My wife and I neared separation, as many do after losses like that."
He attributed this strain largely to the feeling of being "isolated in a culture that doesn’t talk much about these things or know how to support those going through it." Badgley also shared the haunting memory of seeing their "still baby" in a sonogram, an image that remains with him.
He clarified that these essays were written before the birth of their identical twin boys earlier this year. Reflecting on that time, Badgley noted it was a "real inflection point," especially for him as he did not yet have any biological children.
Finding Hope After Heartbreak
Despite the immense pressure, the couple did not give in to the pull towards separation. "We did near separation, and of course we didn’t give into the gravity of that… And here we are with three biological children since," Badgley shared, referencing their newborn twins and the child they had after the miscarriages.
Their story highlights the often-unspoken emotional toll of pregnancy loss on both partners and a relationship, while also offering a message of resilience and hope for others on a similar path.
