Angelina Pivarnick Discusses Her Miscarriage On Television: Courageous Honesty or Publicity Stunt?

For those of you who may not recognize the name, you must be sensible enough to avoid Jersey Shore. While I don’t tune in regularly, I have to admit that I’ve fallen victim to a few MTV rerun marathons. Angelina’s tenure on the reality show was a little rocky. Two seasons in a row, she began in the house with her cast-mates, only to lie, cheat and scheme her way out of everyone’s hearts. Once the entire house hated her, she left abruptly and in a rage. Twice.

Angelina is the least-loved from a cast that regular uses the word “smush” to describe sex. She’s the one who hasn’t gotten any endorsement deals and doesn’t even garner tabloid headlines. Obviously her public image isn’t too magnificent. So I have to say, it seemed odd that a reality show drop-out who feels like the world is against her would want to discuss her miscarriage on television.

I don’t believe that having a miscarriage should create negative publicity. There’s so much stigma surrounding pregnancy and miscarriage in particular. Losing a child does not mean that the mother did something wrong or that she’s weak. I don’t feel like anyone should be criticized for sharing such a difficult story. But in this particular case, I’m not sure if Angelina wanted to open up about an awful personal experience or if she wanted to cash in on some sympathy and publicity.

For a long time now, D-List celebrities have used their womb to garner more attention. Kendra Wilkinson, The Kardashians and many other reality-show celebrities have made their pregnancies, fertility struggles and now personal tragedies into tabloid fodder. On one hand, I feel encouraged to see someone like Khloe Kardashian discusses fertility tests and peeing on sticks simply to get pregnant. I’m glad that we aren’t hiding these types of experiences away and pretending that they don’t happen. On the other hand, I question their motives. And I question why anyone’s reproductive system should be considered as news.

All of these conflicting emotions came to head when I read about the former-Jersey girl and her struggles. Angelina went on Father Albert’s show and said that, “It was really hard and I went through a lot of stress and I ended up losing the baby.” She later continues to explain, “Honestly, it was just a guy I was with.  He wasn’t even there for me”¦ and it was definitely a big reason why I think what happened to me, happened to me.”

After I read this interview, I sat around guiltily saying, “Really?” in my head over and over again. The father of the child, who happened to be different from the man that she was engaged to when she got pregnant, wasn’t supporting you. Sure that’s a reason for stress, but stress is not the only cause behind a miscarriage. To blame an ex for the loss of your child on television just does not seem like a woman going through tragedy and trying to share her story. It seems like a cry for attention, of any kind whatsoever.

Miscarrying a child is one of the most heart-wrenching and soul-crushing experiences that a woman can go through. I really wish Angelina the best of luck in what can be a hard and depressing recovery from such a loss. But I hope that she does that recuperating in private. Miscarriage is a serious tragedy, not one to thrown around in tabloids for an US Weekly photo-spread and a little image goodwill.