In an emotional and honest interview, AFLW icon Erin Phillips has opened up on one of the most difficult periods of her life by revealing that her wife, Tracy Gahan, had a miscarriage in 2022.
The AFLW trailblazer, aged 40, said she felt ‘helpless’ upon learning the news, which she added came just three days before she was due to step onto the footy pitch to play in a preliminary final against Fremantle.
The cross-code star began her professional sporting career playing basketball, picking up the WNBL title with the Adelaide Lightning in 2008 before winning two WNBA championships with the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury.
Her partner Tracy, is also a pro basketball player. The American first met Phillips while they were both playing for the Adelaide Lightning.
Phillips, a key component of the Adelaide Crows AFLW side that won flags in 2017, 2019 and again in 2022, revealed to Hamish McLaughlin on Channel 7’s Unfiltered that she and her partner had undergone IVF treatment.
‘It took us two years before we had Blake and Brooklyn, and we had multiple unsuccessful pregnancies where we couldn’t even get pregnant. We tried. We moved on to the IVF route, which is more expensive, obviously,’ the Channel 7 footy broadcaster said on Unfiltered.
Erin Phillips (pictured with her wife Tracy) has opened up on a ‘devastating’ family tragedy that left her feeling ‘helpless’
‘(We were) maybe a bit more hopeful in the chances of becoming parents, and we end up getting five embryos. We tried for two, and we were just hopeful to just get one, and we won the lottery. We got two, we got Blake and Brooklyn.
‘I thought, after all the sleepless nights and … just how crazy life was, I thought maybe we’d be done at two, because looking after kids is a full-time job.
‘And so we decided to have another one. So we go for three and then we had Drew straight away, no problem. And then we tried for number four, thinking that this is easy, like the hard part’s done.
Phillips, heartbreakingly, then revealed that the couple lost their fourth child during Tracy’s pregnancy.
‘We’ve had one, two and three. All three embryos took. Why wouldn’t number four take? And initially it did,’ she said on Unfiltered.
‘And then three days before the prelim in 2022, three days before we played Fremantle in the prelim at Adelaide Oval, Tracy miscarried.
‘And it was one of the most just… devastating, hardest, awful moments to see your wife, your partner, go through that.
‘As her wife, there was nothing I could do to make it better. You just feel so helpless to see her go through that.
Phillips’ wife Tracy (right) suffered a miscarriage during the pregnancy of the couple’s fourth child
‘We got to the obstetrician thinking it was a regular scan, (but the scan is) saying there’s no heartbeat anymore. And it was like, it was a shock. It was like, we can’t possibly be hearing that, surely not.’
Phillips stated she and Tracy didn’t want to tell anyone what they had been going through as the pair ‘didn’t want others to worry’ about them.
‘I didn’t want anyone to feel like that something was wrong, and I had a prelim, and I know that seems so irrelevant, a game, and it is in many respects, but it was also a big game that I wanted to find the energy and the willpower to go and perform and bring some joy back into our lives.
‘And there was also this element of, you know, we were so lucky. We’ve already got three kids, you know. You know, we miscarried our fourth. Should we even be feeling like we were unlucky or should we even be grieving.’
Phillips would start at half-forward for the Crows during the 2022 Preliminary Final against Fremantle. She booted a goal and 13 disposals to help her side secure a 40-26 victory and their passage to the Grand Final.
The two-time AFLW best and fairest winner kicked another goal during the Grand Final against Melbourne, to spur her side on to their third AFLW premiership title.
During her interview on Unfiltered, she explained that she wanted to bring some joy back to her partner, Tracy, and her family, following such a difficult period.
‘There were so many emotions going on at the time when we won the grand final, it was like the final siren was the moment that I could actually just grieve. You know, I just, I just wanted to bring some joy back in that moment for Trace and what we had just been through.
Phillips (pictured) said the couple were rocked by the awful news. She admitted they kept the news to themselves in a bid not to cause ‘worry’ among friends, family and team-mates
She would go on to lead Adelaide to Grand Final glory in 2022, and in June celebrated her induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame with her family on the Blue Carpet at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne
‘And football seemed like such a small part of what we were going through, but we were able to celebrate and find some joy in that moment.’
In June, Phillips, who dreamt of playing pro football like her father, was honoured for her glittering career in the AFLW as she was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
It meant that the three-time All-Australian and her dad, Greg, became the first father-daughter pair to be inducted into the illustrious club.
And during the Hall of Fame ceremony, Phillips celebrated the accolade with her partner Tracy and their young family on the blue carpet at the Crown Palladium.
