In our thoughts.
Bachelor Nation got to know Sarah Herron on Season 17 of “The Bachelor,” and again on Seasons 1 and 3 of “Bachelor in Paradise.”
Sarah found love off-screen with husband Dylan Brown, and after many highs and lows of her IVF journey, she revealed they were expecting a baby boy in 2023.
However, Sarah then took to social media to share the tragic news that their son Oliver had passed away shortly after he was born prematurely at 24 weeks.
After her pregnancy loss, Sarah eventually did more rounds of IVF and welcomed twin girls in July 2024.
Now, as Sarah celebrates Mother’s Day, she’s taken to Instagram to reflect on Oliver and share how she remembers him in a touching post.
Alongside a photo of herself holding Oliver, Sarah said, “Sometimes, as a bereaved mother, there were times where part of me felt like I wasn’t legitimate because I didn’t get to bring my son home. Although good intent, I hated it when people would text me ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ when I didn’t have my baby in my arms. I didn’t get to ask my mom friends for advice during the newborn trenches, or measure milestones of our growing babies with them — so I didn’t want to be lumped in with them, either.”
She went on, expressing, “I was a woman who went through a horrific experience and didn’t get to the finish line of motherhood. I didn’t get to experience what it felt like to have my heart growing outside of my body. I was the woman pregnant women fear, and new moms can’t fathom to think about. I didn’t feel like a mother, I felt other. So I healed and related through sharing and storytelling about Oliver. Unintentionally, I turned his legacy into folklore.”
Sarah then opened up about how sea turtles became a symbol that reminded herself and others of Oliver.
“Since I didn’t have a baby in the flesh to talk about, I turned his spirit into a sea turtle that could live on forever,” she said. “Eventually, people from all over the world started sending me photos of sea turtles in nature, or of the turtle-things that they would see that reminded them of Oliver and I. The messages from people made me feel seen and loved in a way that felt genuine. Even I, at times, thought of my son as more of a sea turtle than a human because it was the only way I could feel his presence and keep him alive.”
Sarah then revealed how remembering Oliver has now changed after having her daughters.
She expressed, “But now, as a mom with babies earth side, from time to time I will look back at photos of the day Oliver was born and the wind literally gets sucked from my lungs. I remember in a sobering flash that Oliver was in fact a very real, little, boy. Not lore. Oliver was a little boy whom I got to grow and carry for 6 months. A little boy that I got to deliver and meet and hold for 3 very short breaths of life. He was human. Flesh. His blood mine, shared only as mother and baby do. He was legitimate and so was I.”
Sarah ended her post with a note of love for fellow mothers who have gone through a similar experience.
She wrote, “So to my fellow bereaved mothers; this isn’t a happy Mother’s Day text, it’s an ‘I see you’ text because sometimes just feeling seen means more than feeling celebrated. 🫶🏻”
We are keeping Sarah in our thoughts and we’re sending all our love to her and the other moms who have gone through a similar journey.
