Actor Rob Delaney has confirmed the birth of his fourth child just months after his two-year-old son passed away.
The American, best known for writing and co-starring in Channel 4 show Catastrophe, said his wife Leah gave birth to their new son in August, following the death of toddler Henry earlier this year.
Rob, 41, announced the loss on Twitter in February and in June revealed that Leah was pregnant.
Read more: Catastrophe star announces tragic death of two-year-old son in heartbreaking Facebook message
In a chat with The Sunday Times Magazine, he said his wife became pregnant before Henry died and they made the decision to tell their poorly son before anyone else.
Opening up about the experience, he told the magazine: “We likely would’ve had a fourth anyway. But I mean, there’s mixed feelings.
“It’s sort of like they touch each other a little bit, but they almost exist in separate lanes.
“Having another child in no way, shape or form eases the grief of Henry dying.”
But speaking further, Rob said Henry’s death did not make the couple’s new son any less magical.
The road since has been understandably rough, with Rob now battling hard against paranoia over the health of his remaining kids.
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Henry first started being sick when he was aged just nine months, and as a result, Rob said he is now terrified and assumes the worst whenever one of his other children vomits, describing the experience as “like PTSD”.
The interview also saw Rob compare his grief with his experience of alcoholism, which ultimately led to a battle with depression.
Just after Christmas Day, the TV star posted a string of candid tweets about his first festive season following Henry’s death.
He told followers: “Our first Christmas without Henry came & went. The day itself was okay, maybe because there were so many horrible, painful days leading up to it; we must have hit our quota or something. We talked about him a lot & included his memory throughout the day.”
Our first Christmas without Henry came & went. The day itself was okay, maybe because there were so many horrible, painful days leading up to it; we must have hit our quota or something. We talked about him a lot & included his memory throughout the day.
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) December 26, 2018
“I speak publicly about Henry in an effort to destigmatize grief. My family is sad & in pain because our beautiful 2 yr old boy died after a long illness. ‘Why wouldn’t we be sad? Why wouldn’t we be angry and confused?”
My sweet boy pic.twitter.com/E6F2BScFoi
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) December 26, 2018
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But he went on to say that for him, tweeting about his loss is not therapeutic. Rather, his aim is to help others in a similar position to “feel seen/heard/respected/loved”.
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