Reverend Run & Wife Open Up About Baby Tragedy  4/3/07

Former Run-DMC star Joseph Simmons and his wife Justine have opened up about the pain of losing their baby daughter to MTV cameras.

The couple's sixth child was born with omphalocele last September (06) and lived for only two hours, and now the Simmonses are talking about the ordeal, which will make up part of the upcoming third season of MTV reality show Run's House.

In an already taped segment, Justine Simmons, 43, reveals the pregnancy was tough from the beginning.

She says, "I didn't eat at all. I didn't even gain a lot of weight. For a long time the doctors couldn't even tell (the baby's sex), and we said, 'We know it's a girl.' I bought everything in pink for the nursery... The nursery is still upstairs."

Meanwhile, her husband, aka Rev. Run, admits the couple's faith helped them make the tough decision to go through with the birth after learning their daughter's organs were growing outside her body.

He adds, "I'm a preacher; I'm not going to get an abortion. Our strength came from, 'God can create miracles. This baby can be fine.' We stopped looking at the sonogram and walked in faith."

Simmons remains philosophical about his loss, which he has called "the greatest tragedy", adding, "God, in my mind, gave us something to go through in front of America, so we documented it on-camera - not so much to show you sadness, but to show you how we, as ministers, would handle this tragedy."

His wife also reveals all about the special moment she spent with her dead baby in hospital: "My bishop recommended that I have a minute with the baby in the hospital. I looked at her and saw how pretty and peaceful she was. It didn't feel like a goodbye to me."

And she has special advice to other mothers who lose a baby: "Women need to know you only need to mourn quickly. I wouldn't have been able to help my kids get to school in the morning if my husband didn't say, 'We have to keep moving.' I did a lot of journaling - writing to God telling him to give me strength."