On the anniversary of footballer Joe Thompson’s death, his widow has revealed that she is 26 weeks pregnant and carrying her late husband’s baby via a frozen embryo and IVF
The widow of Rochdale mid-fielder Joe Thompson is marking the first anniversary of his death tomorrow with the news that she is 26 weeks pregnant with his baby, after IVF using a frozen embryo. Chantelle Thompson, 36, is sure she is expecting a boy, following a vision Joe had before he died of her holding a baby. Speaking about his “vision,” she tells The Mirror: “Six months before Joe passed, he saw me in our garden throwing a baby boy up in the air. He said, ‘Chan I’ve seen it. He was a boy’. We’d previously lost a baby boy in 2021 and then gone on to have our daughter Athena afterwards. He said, ‘I’ve seen him – he’s here. There’s nothing to worry about. He’s going to be here. He gave me his name.’”
READ MORE: ‘I was told I have terminal breast cancer after having baby but still feel lucky’
Joe, who was 36 when he died from Hodgkin’s lymphoma – a type of blood cancer – was Chantelle’s teenage sweetheart. They married in 2016 – hoping for “a house full” of children. Diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and again in 2017, he recovered twice, before it returned in April 2024, spreading to his lungs. Influencer and beauty brand founder Chantelle, who is now bringing up their children Lula, 12, and Athena, three, with the help of her mum, who has moved into their renovated Manchester farmhouse, says: “When Joe was here, we’d always discussed [the fact] we wanted to have more children. If it hadn’t been for Joe’s cancer diagnosis, we would probably have a house full of them. But we struggled after Joe’s second diagnosis. He had a stem cell transplant, and the doctors had said there was no way I would fall pregnant naturally. He, basically, didn’t have any sperm. So we began our IVF journey in 2018.”
It was their decision to try IVF that meant Chantelle was able to get pregnant with his baby after his death. Speaking on the Think Deepa podcast, she explains: “I remember being in the IVF clinic years ago and they said we needed to have the conversation, you know …if one of you passes away, they will leave behind unused sperm and all the eggs.
“At the time I was laughing, ‘I can use your sperm, you can use my eggs.’ We signed for that. And I just knew I definitely wanted to have more children. It was just kind of in my mind. I was like, ‘when is the right time to do that?’ And it just felt right. I was like, ‘you know, if it’s meant to happen, it will happen.’ And it did.I knew straight away. When I went to the IVF clinic, when they put the embryo in, I just knew.”
When the couple tried IVF the first time, it took three years to get pregnant – only for them to lose their baby, Dre, a week before his due date. Then, miraculously, they fell pregnant naturally, with Athena. Describing it as “crazy,” Chantelle continues: “They tested Joe’s sperm and it was like, ‘you are flying – there’s more than your average man in there.’ She [Athena] was just meant to be here.”
So, the baby she is carrying now is her second miracle pregnancy. And, despite not officially knowing the sex, Chantelle, who says she and Joe were both ‘spiritual,’ is sure her husband’s vision means it’s a boy. She says: “We know it’s a boy, because Joe has told us.”
Joe, who cut his cloth at Manchester United’s academy, scored the winning goal against Charlton Athletic that saw Rochdale avoid relegation in 2018. But, after his third cancer diagnosis, he turned to fundraising – dedicating his time to other families going through the same thing.
Recalling the day when Joe spoke in more depth to her about his vision, Chantelle continues: “I would take him out, we’d sit in the garden and just have chats. Three weeks before he passed, he got quite emotional and said, ‘You know, I’ve come to the realisation that what I experienced is you with a baby boy, but I don’t think I was there’.”
Despite his increasing frailty, Chantelle admits she found it impossible to accept her soul mate was going to die. She says: “I think Joe had accepted that he was going to go, before I did. And I think that’s probably like a self-defence thing. You don’t want to admit that this is going to be the end and come to terms with how it’s going to be, living without that person.”
Cancer transformed both their lives. She explains: “It made us realise just how precious life is. We homeschooled the kids. We spent a lot of time with the kids. We spent a lot of time together.” Given a choice of going out with her mates, or spending time with Joe, he won every time. She says: “I was totally unprepared for his death.”
Chantelle also shared the poignant message she believes she received from Joe from beyond the grave. Still certain he is with her in spirit, she says: “I know he’s here. One day, I started to sing the Black Eyed Peas song, Meet Me Halfway. It just came from nowhere. I didn’t even know it was Black Eyed Peas, I just sang the chorus. “Athena said to me, ‘Daddy loved that song’. And I was like, ‘Oh, really?’
“Then all day she kept saying to me, ‘sing Daddy’s song again’. I put a message in the family group. I felt there was some connection. My sister came back and said, ‘have you actually looked at the lyrics of that song?’ And it turns out the lyrics are, ‘meet me halfway, right at the borderline, is where I’m going to wait for you’. I must’ve cried for about two hours. I just know it was a message from Joe, he’s waiting for me to connect when I’m ready.”
Three weeks later, while the family were sitting in a restaurant having lunch, the song came on again. Chantelle says: “None of the music had been like that before, it stood out. Then, the morning after, we were having breakfast and the song came on again. ‘Meet me halfway. I’m coming Joe.’
“Two days later, in the evening, someone walking by was singing the song. It’s a reminder, I know he’s there. I can’t imagine how people cope when they don’t have that belief when someone passes. People think it’s the end, when it’s really not.” Losing Joe has also given her a fresh perspective on life.
Revealing her new motto, she says: “Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your time, because we don’t know what that time looks like. You know, we didn’t think that Joe wouldn’t be here. But he isn’t. So don’t waste your time doing something that you don’t enjoy.” While she knows that their second miracle baby will not replace Joe, she says: “To be able to bring his baby into the world again is beautiful.”
*Chantelle was speaking on the Think Deepa podcast, speaking publicly on a podcast for the first time. Think Deepa, hosted by Deepa Parekh is a reflective interview podcast built on the belief that the best conversations do more than tell us about someone else — they reveal something about ourselves. Each episode is designed as a mirror, inviting listeners to look beyond the guest’s story and ask what it awakens in their own life, whether around identity, healing, mindset, self-belief, relationships or personal growth. At the heart of the format is a distinctive ritual: guests choose words at random from a singing bowl, allowing the conversation to unfold intuitively rather than through a rigid question-and-answer structure. The result is a podcast that feels both soulful and psychologically sharp — less a standard interview, more an emotionally intelligent exploration of what shapes us, changes us and ultimately teaches us who we are.
READ MORE: ‘I’m disabled with two kids – cruel people still ask why my husband’s with me’
