Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1963)

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I much prefer that you ask me in person about these things.” “All right,” I said. “Then let me ask you some questions about the baby — if you don’t mind talking about it, that is.” Debbie remained silent briefly. Then I heard a big sigh. “Well. I don’t think I mind too much. If that is what you want to talk about, go ahead.” Debbie said 6urrenderingly. “Tell me this, Debbie,” I said as softly as I could, “what do you think is causing your trouble — the tragedy of losing two nearly full-term babies the way you have?” “If you want the truth, I don’t know,” Debbie replied. “I have talked to my doctor and to other doctors. None can really pinpoint the reason. They tell me that I’m healthy, that I can become pregnant again as I have before without any fear, and that I could probably give birth to a normal baby the next time. But they can find no reason for the last two miscarriages.” Actually, the first time Debbie lost her baby — in July, 1962 — it was not a miscarriage. The baby was still-born. It had been almost fully developed. But it had been delivered dead. This time, it was not quite a full-term baby. Just six months. So it was considered still a fetus. “Did you do anything on your trip which might have caused the miscarriage?” I asked Debbie. “Nothing that my doctor didn’t approve of,” Debbie replied. “Of course I was active. Harry and I went to places and had a wonderful time. But I never over-exerted myself. I felt fine all the time — until . . .” Debbie’s voice trailed off momentarily. “But God is very big and very great. You know, I’m a very religious person. My attitude is that if it was God’s will that these babies not be born, then I must accept His will. I’m sure He knows what is best for us.” It was, in fact, Harry Karl who told me the details of how the baby was lost. “We were in Rome,” he said, “I had finished my business there and we were going to leave in a day or two. Then Debbie got up that one morning and she didn’t look right. I asked what was wrong. She said she didn’t know, but she didn’t feel well. I asked if she was in pain. She told me she wasn’t. “ ‘I just don’t feel right,’ she said. Then, ‘Harry, I think we’d better go home. I want Dr. Levy to examine me . . .’ “I knew then what Debbie apparently feared. I didn’t hesitate. I made arrangements at once and we flew over the Polar route to Los Angeles.” Harry said that Debbie went to see her physician. Dr. Charles Levy, the very instant they arrived on the Coast. “We got the bad news from Levy,” he said. “He ordered Debbie into the hospital at once — and that was that.” Harry told me that the loss of the baby was sad for him — as well as for Debbie— but that they would not be deterred from trying again. When I was talking with Debbie, I brought up the question of whether she felt as Harry did about trying for another baby. Or for two, as they had always said they wanted. I suddenly found myself talking to that bubbly, bouncy, breathless Debbie Reynolds of old once again. “Yes, of course,” she trilled. “We haven’t changed our plans at all. In fact, we’re as determined as ever, if not more so, to expand our family. I’m deeply in love with Harry and I want to bear his children more than anything in the world. I know that a baby will bring real fulfillment to our marriage. But I can’t say that even without children my marriage to Harry has been anything less than real fulfillment to me.” I wanted to know how Harry felt. “Disappointed,” Debbie answered. “And I don’t feel any less frustrated than Harry. I wanted so much to give him a son — he has wanted a boy so badly.” There was a pause. “And do you know what?” Debbie continued. “I’m going to give him the boy that both of us want so badly. . . .” Our interview ended then, but the story wasn’t quite finished. I also had to consult one of the East’s most renowned obstetricians and gynecologists. Naturally, when I saw him, the doctor could not be expected to comment specifically on Debbie’s tragic losses. Nevertheless, he was able to discuss the case in broad general terms, as it might apply to almost any couple in Debbie and Harry’s position. Let’s take Harry first. I told the doctor there was some suggestion that Harry, perhaps, might be a source of the trouble. I pointed out that there is an age span of eighteen years between Debbie and Harry, who is, as it happens, in his late forties. Don’t blame Harry “If you are suggesting that there could be a weakness in the husband’s physical condition or capability, you are wrong,” the doctor told me. “This man has already fathered four children. And he is still at an age that, for a man, is considered quite young. “I can cite numerous cases of males who have fathered children — not in their late forties, not in their fifties or sixties, but in their seventies and even eighties. Leopold Stokowski and Charlie Chaplin are classic examples among men in the spotlight who, despite their advanced years, have become fathers. “Only the woman is affected by advancing years. She cannot give birth because she cannot conceive — and that results from the fact that she cannot ovulate.” I brought up the rugged routine that Debbie had been subjected to during movie-making. “Yes and no,” the doctor said. “Overactivity could sometimes be a factor, but there again it depends on the woman. A severe emotional crisis is more likely to hurt her than physical exertion. We usually advise them early in their pregnancy as to how they must conduct themselves, how much physical activity they can handle. “Women by nature are strong creatures. And if they are normal and healthy, if they have no inherent weakness in their pelvic region, or do not suffer some other