Why Dylan Dreyer Feared 'Blowback' Before Revealing Her Struggle with Secondary Infertility

Why Dylan Dreyer Feared 'Blowback' Before Revealing Her Struggle with Secondary Infertility Dylan Dreyer wanted to tell her story because she knew other "people who were going through

secondary infertility but they didn't have a name to put on it"

By Jen Juneau Jen Juneau Jen Juneau is a News and Movies Staff Writer at PEOPLE. She started at the brand in 2016 and has more than 15 years' professional writing experience.People Editorial

Guidelinesand Rachel DeSantis Rachel DeSantis Rachel DeSantis is a senior writer on the music team at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2019, and her work has previously appeared

in Entertainment Weekly and the New York Daily News.People Editorial GuidelinesPublished on May 10, 2019 11:21AM EDT Credit : Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty After Dylan

Dreyer made the decision to open up about her struggle with miscarriage and secondary infertility, she’s getting candid about how, at one point, she considered keeping it a secret.

On the April 22 episode of the Today show’s Third Hour — the same day Jenna Bush Hager announced she’s expecting her third child, a boy — the show’s weather correspondent revealed she had

suffered a miscarriage over the winter while pregnant with her and husband Brian Fichera‘s second child, following a struggle with trying to conceive for six months before being referred to

a specialist.

Ahead of her coverage gig at the Kentucky Derby this past Saturday, Dreyer chatted with PEOPLE about her decision to come forward with her story, admitting she initially hesitated because

she was afraid of the criticism she might receive due to the fact that she and Fichera already have one child: son Calvin Bradley, whom they welcomed in December 2016.

“Going into it, I thought I was going to get a little bit of negative pushback — kind of like, ‘Well, you already have a son, so be happy for what you have,’ ” Dreyer, 37, explained to

PEOPLE. “So I went into it with those expectations to get a little bit of blowback.”

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Source: Dylan Dreyer/Instagram Dylan Dreyer Tells Pregnant Jenna Bush “My Sadness Does Not Take Away from Your Joy” After Revealing Secondary Infertility “But I still wanted to tell the

story because I had known of people who were going through secondary infertility but they didn’t have a name to put on it. They were just having trouble having another child,” she continued.

Dreyer added, “I was so overwhelmed by the positive feedback and the overwhelming support and people just keeping me in their prayers, saying, ‘I’ve been through this too. Just keep your

prayers going. It’ll happen for you.’ ”

“It was so much more positive and it was women supporting women and it was the ultimate reflection of that, and it just makes me so happy that I came out to tell this story because it really

did open up a conversation.”

Jenna Bush Hager and Dylan Dreyer. Carson Daly Responds to Fan Who Called His Today “Baby Making Juice” Joke “Insensitive” After Dylan Dreyer’s Miscarriage Speaking of her fellow Today

women’s support, Dreyer herself truly couldn’t have been happier for Bush Hager, 37, when she learned the latter would be revealing her pregnancy on air the same day.

“Savannah pulled me aside and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I just heard about the story you’re doing today on your infertility. We’re going to announce Jenna’s pregnancy. I don’t know if you knew she

was pregnant, but we’re going to announce it in the next block. Are you okay with that?’ ” Dreyer told PEOPLE. “And then sure enough, Jenna texted me the same thing: ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so

sorry that I’m coming out with this the same day.’ ”

“The fact that Jenna for even a second was going to delay her announcement because of my infertility announcement … it was just so sweet to me on her part that she didn’t want to share her

happiness because of the sadness I was feeling,” she continued. “And I mean, that’s what a family is. Good things and bad things all happen at the same time, and when you support each other,

one doesn’t outweigh the other.”

“Sadness doesn’t beat joy, and joy doesn’t beat sadness. It all just kind of happens at the same time and we’re humans — we have the ability to feel multiple emotions at the same time.”

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