Cincinnati Bengals guard Dalton Risner and his wife, Whitney, shared devastating personal news on Friday: they lost their baby boy at 16 weeks into the pregnancy.
The announcement came just four weeks after Whitney had posted the couple’s happier update, revealing they were expecting their first child. At the time, she wrote, “Baby Risner, we can’t wait to meet you this year!”
In her emotional Instagram post, Whitney opened up about the grief the family is carrying and thanked people for their support. She also offered comfort to other families who have gone through the same kind of loss.
“I wish I was writing any other post than this right now,” Whitney wrote. “I never imagined our journey to starting a family would begin like this.”
She said the experience has brought a kind of pain she never expected to face.
“This loss has introduced me to a depth of pain and heartbreak that I never knew existed,” she wrote. “It feels like I’ve lost so much… our precious baby boy, pieces of myself, and the future I had planned out for the past 4 months.”
Whitney also leaned on her faith as she processed the tragedy.
“I don’t know exactly what the future holds, and that uncertainty is incredibly hard. But even in the midst of heartbreak and grief, I know God is still good,” she wrote.
She made clear how much Dalton has meant to her through all of it.
“More than ever, I’ve realized how important it is who you marry and choose to walk through life with,” she said. “I truly can’t imagine getting through this without my rock and best friend, @dalton_risner66.”
Whitney, a former college basketball player who founded the jewelry company WAAWEES and has more than one million TikTok followers, also said this was the couple’s “second loss in just a couple of months.”
She closed by thanking friends, family, and supporters for their prayers and kindness, while also reaching out to others dealing with similar heartbreak.
“If you’re walking this same painful road, I want you to know that you are not alone,” she wrote.
Risner joined the Bengals in 2025 after stints with the Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings. Since entering the NFL as a second-round draft pick in 2019, he has started 93 regular season and postseason games.
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