Handball: Melissa Petrén speaks out about last year: “I have lost one of my children”

In February 2023, Melissa Petrén, who played five championships for Sweden, came out with the news that she and her husband were expecting an increase at the end of the summer. But almost halfway into the pregnancy, they received the worst imaginable news: One twin would not make it.

Now she talks for the first time about the tough period.

– There will always be a wound inside me. Sure, she stopped living at week 18 but that’s almost half the pregnancy. I had still started to fantasize about how everything would turn out. I have lost one of my children that I kind of thought I would have, says Melissa Petrén to SVT Sport.

“Think about it every day”

At the ultrasound, Petrén and her husband Josip Cavar learned that they were affected by a syndrome called TAPS.

– They were identical twins and shared nutrition, and then it happened that one didn’t get enough and they saw that she wouldn’t make it. It will always be my greatest sorrow.

On July 9, in week 32, Petrén gave birth to a daughter. They had to stay just over a month in the neonatal ward, but the situation was never critical and today the whole family is doing well.

– I think about it every day and am so grateful for Siri. Me and her, we finally made it. But I still can’t help but look at her and think that there would have been another one exactly the same, who would she be?

Contract with Danish top team

In January, the 29-year-old nine-meter player made a comeback and shortly after she signed a contract for the season with the Danish top team Ikast.

– It feels great fun. It’s been fun at training and I feel like I’m keeping up.

– Of course I’m not back 100 percent. But purely game-wise, the head and feeling for handball was there quite early when I started training. It’s more that the body has to get used to it and keep up.