Astronaut who was given deadline to conceive baby gives sad pregnancy update ahead of next mission

Warning: This article contains discussion of baby loss which some readers may find distressing.

An astronaut who was given a deadline to conceive a baby has issued a sad pregnancy update ahead of her next space mission.

Kellie Gerardi has been documenting her journey with in vitro fertilization (IVF) on social media over the past few weeks but on 15 February, she opened up about receiving tragic news during her last ultrasound checkup after previously being told she was pregnant after seven years of secondary infertility.

Taking to TikTok, the 36-year-old recorded herself before the appointment with the overlay text on the video reading: "POV: 30 minutes before my final ultrasound to graduate from my IVF clinic!"

However, after returning to her car, she was left in tears and shared the difficult news that she lost the pregnancy.

"This is not the update that I wanted to give. I was supposed to graduate from my IVF clinic today, but during that final ultrasound, there was no heartbeat," Gerardi said.

"So, I must have lost the pregnancy over the last two days, but my body doesn't know it yet."

"I have to get a D&C [dilation and curettage] at the beginning of the week," Gerardi continued, explaining that she made a commitment to giving her followers real-time updates during her IVF journey and admitting that she wanted to continue to be transparent.

"I don't have anything else to say. This is me un-announcing the pregnancy."

She captioned the clip: "Completely shocked and horrified and sorry to have to share this update after the miraculous joy of the past 8 weeks. My heart is shattered."

The astronaut, who shares a daughter with her husband which they welcomed in 2017, is preparing to head into space again next year in 2026 in a flight led by Virgin Galactic which will expand on the research mission from her November 2023 flight.

Gerardi previously explained that the last possible month she could conceive was January 2025 due to the space mission and, because of this, she may have to wait to have a second baby if she wants to continue with the space flight.

Fellow astronauts Dr Shawna Pandya and Dr Norah Patten will be joining Gerardi, making the upcoming expedition have an all-female science team.

If you need support and advice following a pregnancy loss, you can contact the Tommy’s team at [email protected]. You can also call them for free on 0800 014 7800, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.