‘Thinking Out Loud’ Singer-Songwriter Ed Sheeran, 35, Says His Wife Cherry Seaborn, 33, Is ‘Totally Fine’ Nearly Four Years After Being Diagnosed With Cancer While Pregnant

On a recent episode of the “Friends Keep Secrets” podcast with Benny Blanco, Lil Dicky, and Kristin Batalucco, Sheeran admitted that when his wife informed him she had cancer, it was by far “the worst day” he has ever experienced.

Recounting how his wife is doing now, Sheeran explained, “I mean, she had the operation. This was like … she was pregnant at the time, and that was why it was difficult.

“She had the operation to remove the tumor after she’d given birth to our second child, and thankfully, touch wood, [she’s] totally fine.

“But just, you know, like, I think it’s, yeah, it was f***ing scary,” he added.

Now, Seaborn and Sheeran, who married in 2019, are embracing life even more with their daughters Lyra, 5, and Jupiter, 3.

Sheeran also noted that he enjoys being a dad to two girls, noting that the possibility of having a third child exists.

“I don’t know. I think … I think maybe I’d want another girl, I think. I don’t know,” he said on the podcast.

As for how Sheeran coped with having a second child while performing on tour, he said, “I think if you have them close — I mean, I’m just going based on my experience, but having them close together was, like, really chaotic to begin.

“And then it’s, like, so good, because they just play together, bathe together and sleep together and school together, and everything’s, like, locked in.”

Sheeran previously shared that his wife was told during her second pregnancy that she had a tumor, and doctors couldn’t treat it until she gave birth to their daughter.

He also previously described 2022 as being full of heavy emotions, however, he said his wife’s tumor diagnosis brought them closer together.

“I’ve been married almost five years now, and I’ve always felt real, real closeness. But last year was when that unbreakable bond was made,” Sheeran told a live audience at London’s Eventim Apollo, according to The Sun, one of Britain’s largest newspapers.

“I know you should feel that before with a marriage and children, but I really feel like ‘if we can get through 2022, we can get through anything,'” the singer added.

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Navigating the Emotional Journey of a Cancer Diagnosis

Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming, and it’s completely natural for emotions to fluctuate throughout the process. Psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik explains that emotional responses can shift from day to day, sometimes bringing unexpected waves of stress or uncertainty.

“The patient or person going through the stressful event should accept that emotions will be fluid,” Dr. Plutchik says.

“You may feel fine one day and then feel a massive wave of stress the next. It’s also important for those you look to for support—whether that’s a therapist, friends, family, or both—to understand the fluidity of stress-related emotions.”

RELATED: Communicating With a Loved One Fighting Cancer — What to Say, What NOT to Say

If your emotional well-being begins to feel significantly impacted, seeking mental health support may be beneficial. Options for care include traditional talk therapy, medication, lifestyle changes such as exercise and diet modifications, joining a support group, or other personalized approaches.

Here are a few ways to help manage the emotional toll of a cancer diagnosis:

• Lean on loved ones. Open up to your family and close friends, allowing them to step in and offer support. Many cancer survivors express a strong need for assistance but struggle to ask for help—encourage those around you to offer practical aid, whether it’s meals, transportation, or simply a listening ear.
• Keep a journal. Writing down your thoughts and emotions can be a powerful way to process feelings. A journal provides a safe space to express yourself and reflect on your journey.
• Join a cancer support group. Local and online groups offer an opportunity to connect with others who are facing similar experiences. Learning from others and sharing your story can provide comfort and strength on difficult days.
• Consider therapy. Speaking with a mental health professional can help you navigate fears and concerns in a safe, supportive environment. Sometimes, vocalizing emotions rather than keeping them inside makes a meaningful difference in coping with stress.

While the path may feel uncertain, finding the right support system and coping strategies can make a profound impact on your mental and emotional well-being. Any type of cancer diagnosis is a challenge, but you are not alone—and healing happens in many ways beyond the physical.

Do I Need to Share My Cancer Diagnosis in Social Situations?

Coping With Cancer Amid Pregnancy & How Treatment Affects Fertility

It’s unclear what type of cancer Sheeran’s wife battled, but it’s helpful to understand that according to the American Cancer Society, in addition to breast cancer, the types of cancer pregnant women may experience include:

• Melanoma
• Leukemia
• Cervical cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Colon cancer
• Lymphoma

Remember, during pregnancy, the body undergoes several changes making cancer-related changes harder to detect. Still, some things to be watchful for include:

• Hormone levels change during pregnancy, which causes breasts to become larger, lumpy, and/or tender.
• Rectal bleeding could possibly be due to benign hemorrhoids, a common occurrence during pregnancy, or from colon or rectal cancer.
• Feeling tired could be from pregnancy weight gain or from low red blood cell counts (anemia), which can be seen in leukemias and lymphomas or during pregnancy.
• As the fetus and uterus grow throughout pregnancy, ovarian tumors get more difficult to detect.

Staying current on all of your health and cancer-related screenings will help you manage your cancer risk.

Meanwhile, it’s important to understand that chemotherapy can destroy eggs in your ovaries. This can make it impossible or difficult to get pregnant later. Whether or not chemotherapy makes you infertile depends on the drug type and age since your egg supply decreases with age.

“The risk is greater the older you are,” reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Jaime Knopman previously told SurvivorNet.

“If you’re 39 and you get chemo that’s toxic to the ovaries, it’s most likely to make you menopausal. But, if you’re 29, your ovaries may recover because they have a higher baseline supply,” Dr. Knopman continued.

Radiation to the pelvis can also destroy eggs. It can damage the uterus, too. Surgery to your ovaries or uterus can hurt fertility as well.

Meanwhile, endocrine or hormone therapy may block or suppress essential fertility hormones and may prevent a woman from getting pregnant. This infertility may be temporary or permanent, depending on the type and length of treatment.

If you have a treatment that includes infertility as a possible side effect, your doctor won’t be able to tell you whether you will have this side effect. That’s why you should discuss your options for fertility preservation before starting treatment.

WATCH: How chemotherapy affects fertility.

Research shows that women who have fertility preserved before breast cancer treatment are more than twice as likely to give birth after treatment than those who don’t take fertility-preserving measures.

Most women preserve their fertility before cancer treatment by freezing their eggs or embryos.

After you finish your cancer treatment, a doctor specializing in reproductive medicine can implant one or more embryos in your uterus or the uterus of a surrogate with the hope that it will result in pregnancy.

If you freeze eggs only before treatment, a fertility specialist can use sperm and eggs to create embryos in vitro and transfer them to your uterus.

When freezing eggs or embryos is not an option, doctors may try these approaches:

• Ovarian tissue freezing is an experimental approach for girls who haven’t yet reached puberty and don’t have mature eggs or for women who must begin treatment immediately and don’t have time to harvest eggs.
• Ovarian suppression prevents the eggs from maturing so they cannot be damaged during treatment.
• For women getting radiation to the pelvis, Ovarian transposition moves the ovaries out of the line of treatment.

In addition to preserving eggs or embryos, positive research has shown that women with early-stage hormone-receptor (HR) positive breast cancer were able to safely pause endocrine therapy (ET) to try to get pregnant, and they did not have worse short-term recurrence rates than people who did not stop endocrine therapy.

Coping With a Loved One’s Cancer Diagnosis: Prioritizing Your Mental Health

When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer and you suddenly find yourself filling the role of a caregiver, the lifestyle change can be jarring. Caregivers are often spouses, partners, adult children, parents, or trusted friends of the person living with cancer.

It’s also important to remember that many people welcome the role of caregiver and the opportunity to help out someone they care about deeply, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Filling a caregiver role can be extremely stressful and caregivers often neglect their own needs, which can create a host of additional problems.

RELATED: Check Out SurvivorNet’s Resources on Mental Health

So what can caregivers do to make sure they are healthy, both mentally and physically, as well? We spoke to doctors, patient advocates, spiritual leaders, and caregivers who have been through cancer with someone they love dearly to round up some of the best advice.

‘Disenchanted’ Star and Passionate Cancer Advocate Patrick Dempsey’s Critical Advice for Caregivers: ‘Take Care of Yourself’

And if you need help with finances, we provide resources you can consider to cope with the cancer bills.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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