Photo: Don Arnold/WireImage
Ellidy opened up about her pregnancy in an essay forVogue Australia’s September 2021 issue, calling the experience “bittersweet” as she and the Olympian — whodied in July 2020 at the age of 32— had been trying for a child nine months before the spearfishing accident that took the three-time Olympian’s life.
The model became pregnant after undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) using sperm retrieved from Alex shortly after his death — which is permitted under Australia’s Queensland guidelines when the deceased’s immediate family give their consent, among other strict regulations.
The process, according to Ellidy, involved “a host of signed legal documents, coroner’s approval, and the cooperation of a fertility doctor from an IVF clinic,” something that she now understands was an “enormous amount of effort my family, friends, lawyers, and doctors put in, in those critical hours after Chump passed away, to give me the opportunity to continue our dream of starting a family.”
Alex Pullin/Instagram
Ellidy started IVF treatments in December. Though the first embryo transfer was not successful, she was able to conceive on the second try.
“Being pregnant is bittersweet; on one hand I feel overwhelmed with happiness thinking, ‘Oh, my goodness, it’s alive, it’s really there,’ while also knowing Chump’s not here to share in it,” Ellidy continued.
Still, Ellidy believes that “hope trumps pain” and that “Chumpy is the gift that keeps on giving.”
“In many ways, it simply feels like I’m carrying the torch of our future,” she wrote in her essay. “It sits differently to how it did before, but there’s still something familiar; I still use Chumpy’s toothbrush (it’s electric!), I still sing out ‘Hey, Chumpy’ whenever I pass his music studio in our home, and some day very soon, a little piece of Chumpy will be back in my arms again.”
Alex died on July 8, 2020, while spearfishing off the Gold Coast in his native Australia. He was unconscious when he was brought to shore, where paramedics performed CPR but could not resuscitate him,Australia’s 9 Newspreviously reported.
Alex Pullin.Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
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“Your Dad and I have been dreaming of you for years little one,” she shared in part. “With a heart wrenching plot twist in the middle, I am honoured to finally welcome a piece of the phenomenon that is Chumpy back into this world!”
This July, Ellidy marked one year since Alex’s death with aheartfelt tributeto the athlete.
“Our hearts bleed. May you glimmer under the sea forever, your favourite place,” she wrote. “Bubba Chump and I promise to carry on your legacy and make you proud every single day.”
source: people.com
