Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski, 41, recalls the gut-wrenching moment she learned her unborn baby didn’t have a heartbeat amid brutal five-year battle with infertility that saw her suffering FOUR miscarriages

• The gold-medal Olympian, 41, revealed she ‘just knew’ something was wrong
• Tara said she went through many rounds of IVF throughout the last five years
• She ultimately conceived naturally, but then the baby didn’t have a heartbeat  

Figure skater Tara Lipinski has recalled the devastating moment she discovered her baby didn’t have a heartbeat. 

The 41-year-old Olympian opened up about her fertility journey, and the struggles she and her 39-year-old husband, Todd Kapostasy, faced. 

On the the third episode of her podcast, Tara Lipinski: Unexpected, which she hosts with partner Todd, she discussed how she found out their baby didn’t have a heartbeat after suffering through a tough five-year journey of trying to have a child. 

The athlete revealed that she has had multiple unsuccessful rounds of IVF, four miscarriages and surgeries, before she was able to conceive a baby naturally – only for her then to discover the baby didn’t have a heartbeat.

Tara has recalled the devastating moment she discovered her baby didn’t have a heartbeat

On the the third episode of her podcast, Tara Lipinski: Unexpected, with her co-host and partner Todd to discuss how she found out their baby didn’t have a heartbeat 

She revealed that she has had multiple unsuccessful rounds of IVF, four miscarriages and surgeries before she conceived naturally, which was when the baby didn’t have a heartbeat

The athlete noted that she was ‘praying’ for a heartbeat, but ‘just knew’ from the look on the doctor’s face something was wrong, adding she had been ‘worried’ in the weeks prior to the scan.

She began by retelling the story of when she found out she was pregnant after conceiving naturally. 

‘I had zero hopes that this was going to work, but somehow, and I don’t know how or why, I was pregnant,’ Tara said.

‘And I just remember you looking at me and saying, “See? We worried for nothing,”‘ she directed at her husband. 

Todd also revealed that when they discovered they were able to get pregnant naturally, he was frustrated that the pair even used IVF. 

However, looking back he noted that he recognized he sounded like an ‘a**hole at the time.’ 

The couple then jumped to the moment Tara found out there was no heartbeat, adding that she was ‘critiquing her body for failing her.’ 

‘So at five and a half weeks you have what’s called a gestational scan,’ Todd said.

The athlete noted that she was ‘praying’ for a heartbeat but ‘just knew’ by the look on the doctor’s face something was wrong and had been ‘worried’ the week before the scan

She revealed that she was taking a pregnancy test everyday (shown asleep while clutching test) 

When Tara discovered there was no heartbeat, she revealed that she was ‘critiquing’ her body for ‘failing’ her

Tara added: ‘Right. Then we had to wait, we went to the gestational scan with Dr. Beck.’

‘So what is that and what did our results show in that?’ Todd asked. 

Tara explained that she wasn’t sure what to expect at the scan, but thought ‘maybe it’s going to be okay.’ 

‘So we get to see almost every part of the progression of the pregnancy because we were working with an IVF clinic,’ she said.

‘And so we went to the scan and I didn’t know what to expect, I thought you know, maybe these numbers are good enough. Maybe it’s going to be okay.’ 

The Olympian skater noted that her doctor was hopeful at first. 

‘And then Dr. Beck, smile on her face, “There it is! I see it.” And you see this little black package with your cute little embryo in the middle. So we saw a gestational sac and then inside is the yolk sac and hopefully a fetal pole,’ she said.

‘That was the next big jump and she’s like, “Yes. It’s there, looking good.”

‘They also check if you’re up to date to exactly where you are in your pregnancy. I was looking good, I think I was a day ahead. And I thought, “OK now there’s a little more hope.”‘

She noted that she was a ‘little hopeful’ and was ‘praying’ for a heartbeat to appear on the screen

But, when she got into the room, she ‘just knew’ that something was wrong and broke down

Tara explained that prior to her fertility journey, she never imagined she would have an issue getting pregnant

Then the skater said that she knew her husband was very hopeful and was attempting to persuade her to ‘stop worrying.’

After the scan, the couple was set to attend another appointment where they would do a heartbeat scan. 

Tara added that this was a ‘crazy scan’ to her in general and she was still feeling worried. 

She noted that she was a ‘little hopeful’ and was ‘praying’ for a heartbeat to appear on the screen. 

The athlete added: ‘Well you know, I was a little hopeful and just praying for a heartbeat and it’s crazy that this little thing has a flicker that you’ll see on a screen. It’s a big milestone to reach.

‘And I walked in and sat down and I just knew. 

‘I knew from watching her, that awkward silence, that searching, I could tell she just wanted to find this heartbeat. 

‘And just the look on her face when she said, “I’m sorry, there’s no fetal heartbeat.”‘

Tara explained that prior to her fertility journey, she never imagined she would have an issue getting pregnant. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_MsdJvJ44v8%3Frel%3D0%26start%3D1

The figure skater explained that she thought she would be fine because she worked out and lived a healthy lifestyle

Tara was just 15 years old when she won the gold figure skating medal at the 1998 Olympics in Japan

But she noted that she now knew she just wasn’t ‘educated’ and wished she had thought about it more.

‘I wasn’t educated, there wasn’t ever a moment that someone brought this to me to even think about, or to drop a seed in my brain to think about a fertility timeline and a biological clock,’ Tara said.

‘You kind of heard, “Oh your biological clock is ticking,” and that’s the only thing I feel like I ever heard that could remotely make me think that there was a timeline.’

The figure skater explained that she thought she would be fine because she worked out and lived a healthy lifestyle. 

‘I also felt like I work out, I work my muscles, I hydrate, I was an elite athlete at one point in my life. I eat healthy, and I just thought, “Oh maybe these things correlate,’ and that’s not necessarily true,’ she said.

Tara was just 15 years old when she won the gold figure skating medal at the 1998 Olympics in Japan. The year before, at age 14, she was crowned World Champion. 

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