Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy open up about pregnancy losses: 'Why me?'

Peta Murgatroyd is opening up about the fertility issues she faced while husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy was overseas.

The "Dancing With the Stars" professional couple has endured  three miscarriages while trying expand their family, the most recent of which occurred in October while Chmerkovskiy was in Ukraine.

"I had no strength. I couldn't open a dishwasher. I couldn't open the fridge to feed (son) Shai, to get him some toast," Murgatroyd said in an interview with People published Tuesday. 

After Murgatroyd was hospitalized with what she thought were just COVID-19 symptoms, the couple not only discovered she'd been pregnant but also that she miscarried.

While in the hospital, Murgatroyd called her husband so the doctor could tell them both the news of her diagnosis.

"I ultimately had no idea (I was pregnant), which in hindsight was better for my recovery because I didn't have that super joyous moment of, 'I'm pregnant again,'" Murgatroyd said.

Chmerkovskiy told People that being so far away from his wife made him feel "helpless."

Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd have fewer miles between them after Chmerkovskiy fled Ukraine amid the Russian invasion earlier this year. The dancer cataloged much of his evacuation on social media after fleeing to Poland before being able to catch a flight back to the U.S., and Chmerkovskiy has continued supporting his home country through aid and charity with the Baranova 27 nonprofit organization. 

Upon his return, Murgatroyd posted a photo of her hugging Chmerkovskiy at the gate on Instagram, writing: "I have never hugged him so tight. Shaking and forever grateful. Now it’s time to heal."

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Part of the healing has been through their openness about their fertility challenges.

"When? Why me? Why can't I have another child when it was so easy in the past?" said Murgatroyd, who shares 5-year-old son Shai with her husband, adding that the questions surrounding her fertility "bothered" her but ultimately encouraged her to "finally see a specialist."

Murgatroyd's first miscarriage happened in 2020 while shopping at Whole Foods.

"The darkest part is when the person you are in love with calls you and she says that she had a miscarriage in the bathroom, that's as dark as it can get," says Chmerkovskiy.

Nine months later Murgatroyd miscarried again.

"I had to call him and say, 'It's happened again,' " she said. "This was the first time that I heard him get really upset, which was hard to hear because I know how it affects him too."

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The couple has started in vitro fertilization which makes Murgatroyd excited for the future.

"I don't have any other words but hope and positivity. I'm crossing my fingers that this is going to work."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Peta Murgatroyd, Maksim Chmerkovskiy open up about miscarriages