RHOC's Meghan King Reveals Her Feelings About Her Son's Diagnosis
Meghan King — who was formerly Meghan Edmonds and one of the stars of The Real Housewives of Orange County — shares three children with ex-husband, Jim Edmonds, per Bravo, including their daughter, Aspen, and twin boys, Hart and Hayes. On Oct. 6, 2020, King made an announcement about her son, Hart, on her blog, revealing that he had been diagnosed with hypotonic cerebral palsy. King's post was both powerful and insightful, as she shared her experience mothering her son, noting, "The moment Hart was born I knew something was atypical."
King explained in her blog post that she insisted on an MRI for Hart, which "confirmed a diagnosis of Periventricular Leukomalacia or PVL which is brain death caused by lack of oxygen. This is often a precursor diagnosis to Cerebral Palsy." King then charted the exhaustive list of treatments she sought out for her son, which began between the ages of 1 and 2 years old.
Along with confirming that her son has cerebral palsy and discussing what they've been through, King also shared with her readers how she feels about the diagnosis.
Meghan King was 'relieved' by her son's diagnosis
When Meghan King opened up to her blog readers about her journey with her son, Hart, through his health struggles related to hypotonic cerebral palsy, she also shared her reaction to his diagnosis. "I was expecting this diagnosis. Even though he's the same kid I expected it to hit me hard. But it didn't. It didn't hit me hard at all. In fact I felt relieved," King wrote while being candid about how complex and unpredictable emotions can be.
"Think about it this way: it was as mundane as going through life every day without putting the lid on the toothpaste and then finally, I got to put the lid on. That's how simple and right it felt," King added. She explained that thanks to her own research, she predicted Hart's diagnosis. "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. I knew it was CP since Hart was a few months old. I just knew."
Despite the upheaval King has faced, particularly because of her split, she seems to have remained resilient and upbeat. Go, Mama!
Social media stands with Meghan King
In addition to sharing the news on her blog, Meghan King also gave her followers an update on Instagram, notifying them that her son, Hart, had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. In the caption, King wrote: "I am choosing to celebrate what makes Hart different and raise my children with the encouragement to live their lives out loud and to never let their differences limit or define them. So today we CELEBRATE World Cerebral Palsy Day." As Bravo notes, the commemorative day lands on October 6.
Much like the tone on her blog, King seemingly decided to take a celebratory approach to her son's diagnosis and encouraged her followers to do the same. In fact, in the video King shared to Instagram, she said that Hart's diagnosis was "empowering." King also shared how Hart himself is resilient and tough. The comments were full of praise for King and her positive reaction. One person wrote: "I am so proud of you. I think you need to be a speaker for CP. I really listened to everything you said."
Meanwhile, another person commended King's depth compared to stereotypical expectations of shallowness sometimes found on reality TV: "I am blown away by your mindset and the way you have educated yourself. When I think of 'housewives' I think of petty nonsense. You have grown into so much more than that."
That being said, not all of the feedback was positive. While so many people praised King, her ex-husband, Jim Edmonds, apparently thought the announcement was "absolutely disgraceful."
Meghan King faces trouble with ex-husband, Jim Edmonds
In October 2020, Meghan King used her social media platforms to announce that her son, Hart, had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and her former husband, Jim Edmonds, was not happy about it. Kind and Edmonds separated and King revealed that she found out that Edmonds was divorcing her through a reporter, as she wrote in her blog piece "Broken," published on Oct. 29, 2019. What followed, per Cosmopolitan, was a very messy split, including accusations of infidelity. Well, it seems like the drama is continuing and this time, it's about King's announcement of Hart's diagnosis.
According to E! News, a representative for Edmonds denied that he knew about Hart's diagnosis: "Jim is unaware of any such diagnosis and, if it is even true, it is completely unconscionable and absolutely disgraceful that Meghan would announce this on social media without discussing it with him first." King came back with her own statement, saying, "Jim's statements are untrue and I refuse to address them further."