“You just see different sides of that person.”
John Legend has said that Chrissy Teigen’s postpartum depression deepened and strengthened their relationship.
The singer, who has just been voted Sexiest Man Alive, said that his wife’s struggle after the birth of her first child, Luna, ultimately brought the couple closer together.
He told PEOPLE magazine that he began to see Chrissy differently, and that their experience of IVF changed the way their relationship operated.
“[Parenthood] deepens your love for your partner because you see them in a different light going through, in our case, the trouble of actually having a kid,” he said.
“Then Chrissy’s going through postpartum depression.
“You just see different sides of that person, and if you go through it and you learn from it and you come out the other end better for it, then it deepens and strengthens your relationship.”
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Chrissy and John welcomed their first child in 2015 after struggling to become pregnant for many years.
The mother-of-two later revealed that she had experienced severe postpartum depression after her daughter’s birth, and for a long time she “couldn’t figure out why I was so unhappy.”
“Getting out of bed to get to set on time was painful,” she wrote in a 2017 issue of Glamour.
“My lower back throbbed; my shoulders — even my wrists — hurt. I didn’t have an appetite. I would go two days without a bite of food, and you know how big of a deal food is for me.
“I couldn’t figure out why I was so unhappy. I blamed it on being tired and possibly growing out of the role: ‘Maybe I’m just not a goofy person anymore. Maybe I’m just supposed to be a mom.’”
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Chrissy said that eventually she went to the doctor, who listed off her symptoms and confirmed that she was experiencing postpartum depression and anxiety.
“I looked at my doctor, and my eyes welled up because I was so tired of being in pain,” she said.
“Of sleeping on the couch. Of waking up throughout the night. Of throwing up. Of taking things out on the wrong people. Of not enjoying life. Of not seeing my friends. Of not having the energy to take my baby for a stroll.”
PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive issue is released on Friday, November 15.
