Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham didn’t get the message that pregnancy April Fools’ jokes aren’t funny to those struggling with infertility.
“Secrets finally out, we have a bunny in the oven! @laurenburnham91,” wrote the former Bachelor, 36, in a Sunday, April 1, tweet. In the accompanying photo, a blonde woman — whose face isn’t visible — cradles her baby bump in a bodycon dress. An hour later, Luyendyk returned to Twitter to let his followers know it was just a prank.
Secrets finally out, we have a bunny in the oven! @laurenburnham91 pic.twitter.com/Mmx50ePDaB
— Arie Luyendyk Jr. (@ariejr) April 1, 2018
Not everyone was laughing. “Come on. be better than that. It’s not a joke for many struggling families to get pregnant. It’s extremely expensive and heartbreaking. I wish nothing but the best for Arie and Lauren but this is not funny, it’s cruel,” wrote one woman. Added another: “I was never about to have children due to infertility and a miscarriage. Pregnant isn’t something to joke about.” A third person noted that when the race car driver and 26-year-old sales executive do try to conceive she hopes they “aren’t met with the harsh reality that so many face.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 10 percent of women in the United States ages 15 to 44 have difficulty getting and staying pregnant.
Luyendyk responded with a recipe for a puffy baked treat in his Instagram Story. “Sorry if you were offended, but we really are making a Dutch baby,” he captioned a photo from Cook’s Country cookbook.
The following day, Luyendyk issued an official apology on Twitter. “I do have sympathy for women struggling from infertility,” he wrote on Monday. “My April Fools prank was in no way meant to offend women who struggle with that. I apologize if you were effected personally by my post.”
I do have sympathy for women struggling from infertility. My April Fools prank was in no way meant to offend women who struggle with that. I apologize if you were effected personally by my post.
— Arie Luyendyk Jr. (@ariejr) April 2, 2018
The engaged couple recently moved in together in Scottsdale, Arizona and documented their road trip from Burnham’s place in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Meanwhile, Luyendyk and Burnham aren’t the only public figures who have received backlash for their April Fools’ joke. In 2016, Gwen Stefani learned her lesson when she Instagrammed a photo of an ultrasound with the caption: “It’s a girl.”
