Real Housewives of Orange County alum Meghan King is speaking out about the struggles of having a child with cerebral palsy. Meghan’s son, Hart, was diagnosed in October of 2020, and since then, she has openly talked about Hart’s journey.
In a recent Instagram post, she shares the emotions of being a mother to an extra needs child and how stressful it can be in her life. She explains that she refuses to let her special circumstances become her entire identity. Meghan is seen visibly crying as she describes the everyday effort she puts in to not let cerebral palsy define her or Hart.
She also revealed to her Instagram followers how Hart’s brain injury affects daily lives.
Meghan’s tearful post describes the difficulties she faces with Hart
Meghan shared a selfie with 3-year-old Hart sitting in his car seat after picking him up early from school.
“I don’t like being defined as a mother of a child with cerebral palsy. In fact, I actively work against it,” Meghan began in her post. “I seldom share with you the challenges Hart faces and instead focus on how great he’s doing while trying to give equal focus to my other two children and myself. But the reality is that Hart’s brain injury affects all of our lives daily. “
She continued, “Although CP is defined as a motor disability, its symptoms rear their heads in a plethora of other ways. Today is the second day in a row that Hart has had to leave school for poor behavior. This not only renders me unable to work during that short school window but it leaves me feeling frustrated and helpless for both of us.”
“Is his environment too inconsistent? Is he not getting enough attention? How do I balance his needs with the other needs in the household? Is there such a thing as balance? Is there a solution?” she added. “Is happiness achievable or are we bound to a lifetime of rollercoaster behaviors, merry-go-round therapies, and erratic emotions that eat into everyone’s time and energy?”
She emotionally ended her post with, “The unknown is daunting. How do I keep him integrated in normal schooling when he acts violently or disruptive? How? Thank you for attending my depressing TED talk.”
Meghan said she always had a gut feeling something could be wrong with Hart
Meghan posted on her personal blog in October of 2020 that her twin son, Hart, was diagnosed with hypotonic cerebral palsy.
She wrote in a blog post that she surprisingly felt relieved to find out. “This is the once dreadful diagnosis I knew was coming since that fateful day I googled the right thing and it hit me like a truck: CP,” she wrote at the time. “I knew it was CP since Hart was a few months old. I just knew.”
At the time, she said, “Hart will live a full, independent life. He will face challenges his siblings won’t and alternatively, they will face challenges he won’t but we just don’t know what those are yet. My hope is that Hart can inspire others with a “diagnosis” not to hide it for fear of judgment but to wear it as a badge of honor, a source of pride for all the hard work he’s accomplished that most of us will never understand.”
In July of 2019, Hart was diagnosed with minor Periventricular Leukomalacia. Meghan felt strongly this would lead to a formal diagnosis of CP, as Periventricular Leukomalacia is often a precursor diagnosis to Cerebral Palsy.
Meghan shares Hart, along with his twin brother, Hayes, as well as daughter Aspen, five, with her ex-husband Jim Edmonds.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.