It’s the news that Sarah Herron didn’t want to share. On Wednesday (Feb. 1), Sarah, 36, who competed on season 17 of The Bachelor in 2013, revealed that she and her fiancé, Dylan Brown, were mourning after their newborn son died. “On January 28th, at 24 weeks old, our beautiful son Oliver Brown was born. He passed away in his dad’s arms shortly after,” Sarah captioned an Instagram Gallery, the first slide of which showed a black-and-white photo of her and Dylan cuddling their child. “There are no words for the magnitude of loss and pain we’re experiencing. It’s beautiful and simultaneously tragic.
“He had my nose and his dad’s mouth and long fingers,” she continued. “Oliver, our IVF miracle defied so many odds and fought through so many hard milestones to be here, but the higher powers still had other plans for the three of us.”
“Our time together was short, but we are grateful for the days we had with Oliver in my belly,” wrote Sarah, explaining the rest of the videos and pictures in the IG gallery. “He has taught us so much about the integrity of life, love, and death. Oliver filled our home and hearts with so much love and, most importantly, optimism. The stars aligned to create Baby Oliver with a deep, meaningful purpose bigger than we’ll ever understand. His body was small, but his legacy will always be larger than life to us.
“Oliver swam with sea turtles, he kept me company while I recovered from a broken knee, and he loved his dad’s cooking. Most of all, Oliver loved his morning routine of laying heart-to-heart with his brother, Rio [their dog], on my lap,” she added.
While our hearts are shattered beyond comprehension, we are comforted knowing that our son’s soul only ever knew love and will not suffer in a body that wasn’t built for this life,” concluded Sarah. “We’ll never understand the cruelty of it all, but through the darkness, Oliver remains so, so bright. We love you so much, baby boy. You will never be replaced. You are so perfect and awesome.”
Sarah competed on Sean Lowe’s season of The Bachelor, returning in 2014 for the first season of Bachelor in Paradise in 2014. She returned to Bachelor In Paradise for season 3 in 2016. She and Dylan got engaged in May 2021 after four years of dating. They had been trying to start a family for two years, per Entertainment Tonight. The couple announced their pregnancy in September 2022 after a lengthy IVF journey.