This post contains references to pregnancy loss, and may be triggering to some readers.
Penn Badgley and his wife Domino Kirke are expecting their first child together.
Posting to Instagram, the You star’s wife of three years shared that she was expecting after experiencing two miscarriages in a row.
“After two miscarriages in a row we were ready to call it. I stopped trusting my body and started to accept the fact that I was done,” Kirke shared on Instagram.
“As a birth attendant, I’ve seen and heard it all. It takes everything I’ve got to detach lovingly from the losses I’ve been present for and be in my own experience,” she added.
“When I was pregnant at 25, I knew nothing. I had no community. I dove in blissfully unaware about birth and its mysteries.
“Now, with 10 years worth of experience to pull from, I treasure my birth community and the knowledge I have. You’re already teaching us how to stay in the day in a way we’ve never had to, little one. Thank you.”
Badgley married Domino Kirke, the sister of Girls star Jemima Kirke (who plays Jess on the show), in 2017.
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???? by @bedouinemusic #film #fbf
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Although the beginning of the couple’s relationship was kept relatively quiet, it’s believed the pair started dating back in 2014, three years before they wed.
In recent interviews, Kirke has admitted that she wasn’t very serious about their relationship when they initially began dating.
“I was sort of getting used to being a single mum, maybe a little too used to it. I had a really good thing with my kid and we were like this little team,” Kirke told Hey Mama.
“Penn and I were dating, but it wasn’t nearly as serious as it is now, of course. I didn’t think marriage was in the cards for us. So I was sort of just chugging along, surviving and getting through the days, and I think the difference now is that I’m really living.”
At the beginning, Kirke also wasn’t keen on dating an actor – especially considering both of her sisters are working in the profession.
“I was like, ‘Ugh, actors’… and then I married an actor,” the 36-year-old told WWD.
Eventually, their relationship transformed into a much more serious one and before long, they were married – not once, but twice.
“It all happened quite quickly,” Kirke admitted.
“I got married and it was a bit of a whirlwind I wasn’t expecting for the next phase for Penn and I,” she told i-D.
“To be honest, it came as a huge surprise.”
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Photo by @charlotte_olympia dress and head piece by @newyorkvintageinc ☄️
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The couple had two wedding ceremonies in 2017.
In February, the couple exchanged vows in a small courthouse ceremony in Brooklyn.
They followed up their intimate wedding with a big reception in June 2017 in upstate New York.
The event was attended by a number of celebrity guests, including Debra Messing, Zac Posen and Mariska Hargitay.
Speaking to People in September 2o19, Badgley shared how he believes his faith led him to his relationship with Kirke.
“I don’t think I could truly value human love until I developed divine love,” he explained.
“[Domino and I] very much had a romantic beginning, and I think that you discover in marriage that what sustains a marriage for decades – there are less and less people who can tell us this – but I think it has something to do with [divine] love.”
Besides marrying Kirke, Badgley has also taken in Kirke’s son from a previous relationship as his step-son.
The couple now live together with 10-year-old Cassius, whose father is Kirke’s ex-boyfriend musician Morgan O’Kane.
To the surprise of many, Badgley is also a musician.
After finishing up with Gossip Girl, Badgley formed the band MOTHXR, of which he is the frontman.
It started off as a passion project – but by 2016 it became a full-time gig for the singer, who’s still performing with the band.
Kirke also has a musical background.
Although she previously had her own band named DOMINO, the singer has also released her first solo album.
The mum-of-one also works as a birth worker and educator.
“I’ve definitely gone from a show, where I’m in full makeup, the whole thing, straight to a birth, and I’ve come home from those births being like, I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I feel like a double agent,” Kirke told W Magazine.
Before marrying Kirke, Badgley dated a few famous faces.
On-screen romance turned real when the actor started dating Blake Lively, aka Serena Van Der Woodsen, during their time on Gossip Girl.
The pair denied they were in a relationship at the time, only admitting it publicly years later.
The couple, who were together for three years, then had to spend another four seasons filming together after they split up.
He then dated Zoe Kravitz from 2011 to 2013, getting romantically involved with his now-wife the following year.
Feature Image: Instagram/@domino_kirke
This post was originally published on January 16, 2019, and updated on February 11, 2020.
