Audrey Hepburn, an everlasting icon celebrated for her roles in classics like Roman Vacation, My Truthful Girl, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, harbored a profound private need that contrasted sharply along with her public picture: a big, loving household. This deeply held want was tragically sophisticated by a collection of miscarriages and a troublesome marriage, as revealed within the biography Intimate Audrey, penned by her son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. The ebook presents an intimate have a look at the star’s struggles, suggesting her first husband, Mel Ferrer, might have inadvertently or deliberately contributed to her heartbreak.
A Mom’s Unfulfilled Dream
Hepburn’s craving for kids was a lifelong ambition, a stark distinction to the glamorous life she led after enduring the hardships of Nazi occupation within the Netherlands as a baby. Her first miscarriage occurred in March 1955, simply six months into her marriage to Mel Ferrer, who was 12 years her senior. Sean Hepburn Ferrer recounts that his father’s preliminary response was to encourage her to work, seemingly to distract her from her grief.
4 years later, whereas filming The Unforgiven, Hepburn skilled a second being pregnant, which she initially embraced with immense pleasure. “The one factor I dreamed of in my very own life was to have youngsters of my very own,” she had acknowledged. Nevertheless, this being pregnant additionally resulted in tragedy, with the lack of the child woman at six months. Hepburn had deliberate to call her Maria, and the loss felt profoundly private, as if she had misplaced a daughter fairly than a fetus. This second miscarriage intensified her fears that she would possibly by no means be capable of carry a baby to time period.
The Delivery of Sean and Underlying Marital Strife
In opposition to the percentages, Hepburn turned pregnant once more shortly after the second loss and efficiently carried the child to time period, giving delivery to Sean on July 17, 1960. This marked the conclusion of her deepest maternal aspirations. To make sure her son wouldn’t develop into a degree of competition in her more and more strained marriage, Hepburn insisted on protecting all of Sean’s bills, together with his schooling, a promise she stored all through his life.
Whereas the general public perceived the couple as a Hollywood supreme, Sean Hepburn Ferrer reveals a special actuality. He alleges that Mel Ferrer, already a father to 4 youngsters from earlier marriages, harbored reservations about having extra youngsters, notably as he had bold plans for each his and Hepburn’s appearing careers. In response to the biography, Mel Ferrer’s actions, which Hepburn believed had been unconscious, might have actively undermined her pregnancies.
Allegations of Sabotaged Pregnancies
Sean Hepburn Ferrer particulars a sample the place, upon studying of his mom’s pregnancies, his father would provoke actions that had been detrimental to a girl experiencing them. “Each time she turned pregnant, my father would discover a cause for them to maneuver, journey or do one thing energetic,” the ebook states. Hepburn would reportedly quip to pals that as quickly as a being pregnant take a look at was constructive, her husband would ask for assist with duties like shifting containers of books. Given her historical past of miscarriages, such strenuous actions had been the alternative of the entire mattress relaxation beneficial, particularly within the ultimate trimester, to forestall untimely labor.
‘Two Years in Hell’ and a Second Marriage
The wedding between Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer continued to be risky. A turning level, in accordance with Sean, occurred when his mom witnessed her son tiptoeing round his father’s room to keep away from his outbursts. This second, Sean writes, solidified her choice to depart. Though they tried a separation, a short reconciliation led to a different being pregnant on the finish of 1965. This time, it was an ectopic being pregnant, leading to one other miscarriage.
Sean Hepburn Ferrer claims his first husband was notably absent throughout this era, choosing minor surgical procedure as an alternative of comforting his grieving spouse. The dream of a big household appeared more and more unattainable, plunging Hepburn into deep despair. The couple formally divorced in 1967, a interval Hepburn later described to pals as “two years in hell… the worst of my life.” Regardless of these experiences, she maintained to pals that her husband’s actions, whereas inconsiderate, weren’t deliberately malicious, suggesting he might have been influenced by previous marital difficulties associated to his youngsters.
Hepburn discovered love once more with Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti whereas on an Aegean cruise. They married, and their son, Luca, was born in February 1970. Nevertheless, this marriage was additionally marred by Dotti’s infidelity. The emotional toll of his affairs reportedly led Hepburn to aim suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping drugs. Her maid found her with an empty capsule bottle, and a teenage Sean watched as his mom was rushed to the hospital for emergency remedy. Upon her return, Hepburn defined to her son that she had not meant to finish her life however had desperately sought to flee overwhelming ache, overusing treatment to numb herself.
Later Life and Humanitarian Work
In a ultimate, poignant try to satisfy her dream of a bigger household, Hepburn turned pregnant once more by Dotti on the age of 45. Sadly, this being pregnant additionally resulted in an early miscarriage, additional deepening her sorrow. The couple remained collectively for his or her sons’ sake, ultimately divorcing in 1982.
As Hepburn’s appearing profession waned, she devoted herself to humanitarian efforts, changing into a UNICEF ambassador. She thought-about this function essentially the most vital of her life, channeling her love for kids into advocating for his or her well-being worldwide till her passing in 1993.
