‘Survivor’ Couple Pregnant: ‘Such a Miracle’

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One “Survivor” couple is celebrating an emotional moment — Jaclyn and Jon Misch are pregnant via gestational surrogate after suffering a heartbreaking miscarriage almost a year ago. Here is what you need to know about their journey and all the ups and downs they’ve been through along the way.

The Misches Are 7 Weeks Along

On October 24, Jaclyn posted to Instagram that their gestational surrogate is seven weeks along with their baby and they are “cautiously celebrating” at this point.

She wrote:

Houston, WE HAVE A HEARTBEAT!!

A tiny… flickering… perfect heartbeat!

Praise Jesus, thank you GOD!

Jon and I were BOTH able to be in the room yesterday with our gestational carrier (No FaceTimeing from the clinic parking lot!! Woo hoo! Lol)

Life is SUCH a miracle and we’re all so freaking grateful to be here, at ultrasound #1. Seven weeks, 2 days. Taking this one day at a time, but for now we’re (cautiously) celebrating a beautiful, beating heart.

Please stay with us forever Baby Misch!

The post includes a short video from the ultrasound and a string of photos. In the comments, several “Survivor” players offered their congratulations and well-wishes. Here is why this is such a big deal for the Misches.

The Misches Lost Their Baby, Harper, at 20 Weeks in December 2020

In December 2020, Jaclyn and Jon, who competed on the second “Survivor: Blood vs. Water” season together, posted to Instagram that at the 20-week ultrasound, there was no heartbeat. They and their surrogate chose to induce labor and have some moments with the baby girl, whom they named Harper. Jaclyn called it “the darkest 24 hours of [their] lives.”

Jaclyn wrote at the time, “We’re just waiting now… crying and praying. Praying that God will be in this room with us as our carrier delivers… thanking Him for the joy she brought to our lives for 20 weeks, the bonds she’s created in our family, and the light that she brought to the world.”

She later updated her followers about their grieving process, thanking her followers for sharing their stories of miscarriage because it made her feel less alone. Jaclyn wrote, “Thank you. Truly, thank you. I am comforted by the women that have said, “It happened to me too.” This grief can be matched with loneliness when society asks us to suffer these losses in silence, which makes the burden heavier to bare. I see you. I sit beside you. I cry along with you and I send you my love.”

The Misches, who married in August 2015, have been on quite the journey to have a biological child. The reason they have been using a gestational surrogate is that Jaclyn has a condition called Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome, which, according to Penn Medicine, means that she has an underdeveloped or non-existent uterus and vagina but normally-functioning ovaries. That means that she can have a biological child by using her egg to create the embryo, but she cannot carry the child herself.

Back when Jaclyn was on “Survivor,” she talked about her condition with Cosmopolitan, saying that she is very upfront about the syndrome early on when she is dating someone because she’s worried that down the line, it will be a dealbreaker for them. But it didn’t scare Jon off.

“I remember we had been dating about a month, and I’m like, ‘OK, we’re about to tell each other we love each other, and I can’t have kids, so I need to tell him.’ So of course, I was emotional and I’m like [wailing], ‘Don’t date me anymore, I can’t have kids,’ and being so dramatic about it, and he was just like, ‘Shut up. It’s fine, it’s fine.’ He was great about it! I was so nervous to tell him; I think a lot of girls with MRKH are very nervous about telling their significant others,” said Schultz.

She continued, “But it’s a good way to weed out the bad ones — that’s what I say to all the girls. I’d dated a few guys who I had told and they completely shut off; they didn’t want to talk about it at all. Those relationships never work out because it’s like, if you can’t talk about the most intimate part of it that is such a big part of my life, then how can I date you?”

When the couple announced their pregnancy with Harper in 2020, Jaclyn revealed that they had already been through “two rounds of IVF, two gestational carriers, and four embryo transfers,” and then after Harper died, they had to begin again. So it has been an arduous journey for them and we wish them the very best of luck with this pregnancy.

“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on CBS. The 42nd season will air in the spring of 2022. Seasons 43 and 44 are casting now, so if you’ve always wanted to apply, now is your chance!

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