'How I Met Your Mother' Actress Justene Alpert Opens Up About Terminating Pregnancy After Rare Diagnosis
Justene Alpert terminated her pregnancy in December after learning that her unborn baby had a "rare genetic disease."
The actress, recognized for her roles in shows such as 9-1-1, How I Met Your Mother, and Rescue: HI-Surf, took to Instagram on Monday, June 22, to speak about her experience.
"We didn't want to have to make this decision," she wrote. "No mom or dad should ever have to be put in this place. The shame and guilt is unfair. Having to do this is something that is rarely spoken of and seems to not have the same kind of empathy as other situations. It's the worst pain and many suffer silently out of fear of being judged or simply misunderstood."
Alpert shared that she was in her second trimester of pregnancy before she received the news. The actress and her husband, Mason Trueblood, were just starting to tell friends about family that they were expecting.
The 36-year-old spoke to a specialist who told her she'd be "high risk" if she didn't terminate the pregnancy, adding that the baby would not make it to term.
On December 29, the actress wrote she "had to say ‘goodbye' to our son."
Alpert ended the post with a message to him, "I loved you then, I love you now and I will love you forever," she wrote.
In the caption of the post, she wrote about why she decided to publicly share her experience.
"I'm sharing this for the woman who may be in the situation I was in not long ago," she wrote. "The one who just had her heart shattered. The one who is frantically looking for a reason why. For a result. For a fix. For an explanation. For a friend. I'm sharing to let her know one simple thing that I hope can offer her so much comfort…'you are not alone.'"
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This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 9:14 PM.