Penn Badgley’s Wife Assists Woman in Giving Birth Following Miscarriage
Penn Badgley‘s spouse, Domino Kirke, reflects on a particularly challenging day in her profession as a doula.
“I experienced a miscarriage in my second trimester,” Kirke, 42, shared in an Instagram post on Friday, September 4. “After a traumatic D&C, I returned home to recuperate for a few days, played around on the piano, and composed the song ‘Mercy’ … then I went to support someone in labor just days later, even while still bleeding.”
The “Teething” artist mentioned that instead of reaching out to a coworker for assistance, she felt compelled to act like a “superhero.”
“[I] was up crawling around at night, fueled by my own adrenaline and the thrill of birth, helping mothers and babies regardless of the cost,” she continued. “It took a toll on my health (autoimmune issues), friendships, and my relationships with my child and husband.” (Kirke has a son, Cassius, 17, with ex Morgan O’Kane. She and Badgley, 39, are parents to a 6-year-old boy and twin boys expected in September 2025.)
“Not even my personal grief could halt me,” Kirke wrote. “In fact, back then, that’s exactly why I acted this way — I couldn’t confront my grief. It wasn’t until I was leading a doula training many months later that I had to excuse myself and quietly sob in the restroom for the first time since the procedure.”
Kirke wrapped up by stating, “The caregiver’s role is of utmost importance. Your own traumas and grief will always follow you and manifest in unexpected ways. It’s only a matter of time. You deserve to approach this work with a strong support system and skills so that you can sustain yourself in it. Our clients deserve caregivers equipped with a variety of tools because the influence caregivers have on their clients lasts a lifetime.”
In her Instagram post, Kirke confessed that her “workaholism and tendency to please others” had reached a critical low.
“I was unequipped with any tools or skills. My marriage was crumbling after this was our second miscarriage in succession. I had no idea how to ask another doula for help without feeling like a burden or a failure,” she wrote.
Kirke cautioned, “I realize that this approach to the caregiver role is alarmingly prevalent. If this is how you parent or were parented, then you stand little chance as a professional caregiver unless you engage in deeper work to examine your own story. At the very least, burnout is inevitable.”
Badgley and Kirke were married in 2017 and nearly parted ways after experiencing two consecutive miscarriages, as the Gossip Girl star shared last year.
“This was our second loss together during a period where I doubted we would break the cycle,” he wrote in his essay compilation, Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age, released in October 2025. “My wife and I were close to separation, which is common after such losses, largely due to the profound isolation we felt in a culture that seldom addresses these issues or provides adequate support for those affected.”
Badgley went on to say, “Seeing our still baby in that haunting black and white ultrasound imagery is a memory I can’t shake each time we go for a sonogram now.”
Later, Badgley revealed on the “Totally Booked With Zibby” podcast that he had penned the essay prior to the birth of his twins.
“Now, I feel, and I say this with affection, that I’m drowning in children,” he said. “Thus, it’s more difficult to reconnect with that sense of loss. Because my life truly feels overflowing.”
