'Young and the Restless' Star Melissa Claire Egan Opens up About Miscarriage

Soap opera star Melissa Claire Egan opened up in a devastating social media post about a miscarriage she suffered earlier this year.

Egan, who starred as Chelsea Lawson Newman on The Young and the Restless from 2011 to earlier this year, spoke publicly about the pregnancy for the first time on Tuesday.

In the candid post, she shared a photo of herself taken after her dilation and curettage (D&C) surgery, a procedure that is carried out after miscarriages to remove tissue from the uterus.

She began the lengthy post: "This picture was taken on January 18, 2018. My husband [CBS executive Matt Katrosar] took this picture an hour after my D&C surgery, after I had suffered a miscarriage at 8 weeks."

Egan, who soap opera fans also know as Annie from All My Children, went on to say that she's "very candid about my miscarriage with my friends and family" and wrote that she "[speaks] openly about it to anyone that asks if we want kids."

"It's never been a secret. And I was so lucky to have my incredible husband and best friends and family in the world there for me, every step of the way," she said, adding that there wasn't a particular reason she hadn't publicly spoken about her miscarriage.

"It's so hard, and takes such a toll on you emotionally and physically, hormonally, all of it. But I hadn't shared it publicly. Not for any particular reason, I just hadn't," she wrote.

She continued, saying that she decided to finally publicly mention it after seeing Carrie Underwood open up about her multiple miscarriages and after Egan and a friend discussed how miscarriages are not talked about often enough.

"...[A] friend that I don't see often told me that sadly she had suffered one as well. She seemed almost relieved when I told her I had the same experience. She told me she had felt alone and like a failure, and less-than, because she hadn't heard other people speak about it," Egan continued. "This made me SO SAD, and made me want to share my story. With anyone and everyone. Just so no one feels alone. I promise you you're not alone."

"Also, @carrieunderwood's recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning was so beautiful and had me in tears. I was in the thick of my last and final days on Y&R at the time [of my miscarriage], so I feel her pain over having to 'cry pretty.' (only a very small group of people knew at the show, and they could not have been more wonderful and took great care of me)," she said.

Egan said that she drew strength from actresses Hilarie Burton and Claire Holt, who also posted about their own experiences with miscarriages. "They were so open and honest and supportive and I really admire that and am grateful. So now I'm happy to do the same. Please don't feel alone. Or like a failure. You're everything, and I'm here with you. Much love."

Underwood revealed on CBS This Morning on Sunday that she suffered three miscarriages in 2017 and one in 2018 before she and husband Mike Fisher became pregnant with their second child. They are already parents to 3-year-old Isaiah.

Underwood revealed how she used songwriting as an outlet, which is how she ultimately ended up with her new single off the album of the same name, "Cry Pretty."

"Throughout the whole process, you know, I'm writing and, like, literally right after finding out that I would lose a baby, I'd have a writing session, I'd be like, 'Let's go,' you know, I can't just sit around thinking about this. Like, I wanna work, I wanna do this," Underwood said.

"'Cause I would literally have these horrible things going on in my life, and then have to go smile and, like, do some interviews or, like, do a photo shoot or something, you know?" she explained. "So it was just kind of, like, therapeutic, I guess."