A controversial US Senate candidate has shared a heartbreaking update months after opening up about his struggle with infertility. Graham Platner and his wife, Amy Gertner, revealed in a statement posted to Instagram on Monday that they recently experienced a miscarriage.
“Just as the difficulty in accessing fertility treatment is overlooked, so too is the heartbreak of loss,” the couple wrote. “We suffered that heartbreak recently, when we experienced a miscarriage.” Despite their unimaginable pain, they chose to share their story because of how common such tragedies are during pregnancy.
“To anyone who has experienced a loss like this: you are not alone. We’re with you — just as so many of you have been there for us,” they said. “We are deeply grateful for the community we’ve found through this struggle.” Platner and his wife asked for grace and space as they grieve and plan their next steps.
The couple began sharing their infertility journey months ago. Earlier this year, they traveled to Norway for in vitro fertilization treatments, as reported by Centralmaine.com. The IVF treatment in Norway cost approximately $5,500, compared to nearly $25,000 in New England, saving them almost $20,000.
Platner, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, moved back to Maine in 2018 to work on a friend’s oyster farm and eventually took over the business. He is now running in the Democratic primary against Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, for a chance to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins in November.
The Democratic Senate hopeful recently faced controversy over a Nazi tattoo. In 2007, while serving in the Marines, he got an SS skull and bones tattoo on his chest during a drunken visit to a tattoo parlor in Split, Croatia. Platner has since covered the tattoo with a Celtic knot design featuring imagery of dogs. He claimed the stories about the tattoo were part of an establishment plot to undermine his candidacy.
Platner has also faced criticism over his Reddit history, where he asked why “black people don’t tip” and suggested women who get raped in the Army should be careful about how much they drink. He defended the comments, saying they were made in 2013 when he had just left the infantry and rarely interacted with women professionally.
Despite the scandals, Platner has gained a following as a progressive blue-collar candidate, drawing overflow crowds to his town halls in rural Maine and railing against oligarchy and corporate greed.
