Country star Thomas Rhett’s wife Lauren Akins has opened up on why she ‘resented’ him early on in their marriage and how she felt like she was ‘drowning’ as their family grew.
In a video shared on YouTube by I Am Second titled, Lauren Akins – This Wasn’t The Plan, the 34-year-old lifted the lid on the trouble she and Thomas, also 34, faced in their relationship while he toured the world.
She admitted that the couple had reached a breaking point at the height of her spouse’s career – adding that she ultimately ‘hated’ him for chasing his dreams as she was left to care for their children at home.
Lauren – who tied the knot to the Unforgettable hitmaker in 2012 – explained that their romance hit murky waters when they decided to adopt their oldest daughter, Willa Gray.
Just after the couple began going through the adoption process, Lauren got pregnant while her husband sold out arenas – leaving her carrying one child and struggling to bring another home all alone.
Country star Thomas Rhett’s wife Lauren (seen in 2022) has opened up on why she ‘resented’ him early on in their marriage and how she felt like she was ‘drowning’ as their family grew
She explained that early into their marriage, Thomas’ career took off and she decided to tour with him.
However, she soon felt like she had given up on her dream of becoming a nurse.
‘I realized pretty early on that I was not going to be a working nurse in a hospital. And so I started talking about that with my husband,’ she said.
‘Just like, “I know this is what you’re pursuing, but I’m going to be honest, I really thought it wasn’t going to work out and I thought I was going to be a nurse and that was how our life was going to go.”
‘”And that’s just not the plan that God had. I do want to support you, but I feel like I need to find kind of my own path within this too.”‘
Shortly after, she decided to go on a medical mission trip to Haiti, which is where she met Willa.
Lauren recalled calling her spouse and explaining that she felt like she was ‘called to help her find her forever home.’
Thomas replied: ‘We’ll do it.’
In a video shared on YouTube by I Am Second titled, Lauren Akins – This Wasn’t The Plan, the 34-year-old lifted the lid on the trouble she and Thomas, 34, faced in their relationship
She admitted that the couple had reached a breaking point at the height of her spouse’s career – adding that she ultimately ‘hated’ him for chasing his dreams
Lauren explained that their romance hit murky waters when they decided to adopt their oldest daughter, Willa Gray (Lauren seen with Willa when she was five months old)
The lovebirds adopted Willa in 2017 after Lauren went through an ‘intense’ 13-month adoption process on her own because Thomas was touring.
Things became even more stressful when Lauren discovered she was pregnant and was throwing up multiple times a day.
She confessed: ‘I was getting sick and throwing up like 50-something times a day.
‘The whole time I was missing my husband. I started to resent him a little bit because he was back in America touring.’
Lauren went back to the US and her parents went to Haiti to bring Willa home. Three months after they welcomed Willa to their home, Lauren gave birth to their second daughter, Ada.
‘It kind of felt like we went from zero to two pretty quick as parents,’ she said before explaining that she and the kids had decided to join Thomas on tour.
However, it seemed that being on the road only intensified their problems.
Lauren admitted: ‘His life went on, and I feel like mine stopped. And I felt like we weren’t doing it together anymore.
‘I feel like there was a lot of miscommunication, there was a lot of resentment I was holding on to even through the adoption and after. I just hit a breaking point. I didn’t like him and I resented him.’
Just after the couple began going through the adoption process, Lauren got pregnant – leaving her carrying one child and struggling to bring another home all alone (seen in 2019)
She explained that early into their marriage, Thomas’s career took off and she decided to tour with him (the couple seen when they were younger)
Things became even more stressful when Lauren discovered she was pregnant and was throwing up multiple times a day
The lovebirds felt their marriage ripping at the seams so they decided to undergo an ‘intense counseling session,’ in which they ‘shared everything’ and decided to ‘restart.’
They then welcomed their third daughter, Lennon Love, in 2020, and their fourth child, Lillie Carolina, in 2021.
After giving birth to Lillie, Lauren confessed that she suffered from severe ‘postpartum depression.’
She admitted that she felt like she was ‘drowning’ and stayed in bed for ‘months’ while Thomas took care of the children.
Lauren revealed she finally got better after consistently going to the gym and praying – adding that she was so thankful for all of her four children.
Lauren revealed she finally got better after consistently going to the gym and praying – adding that she was so thankful for all of her four children
In the past, Thomas spoke about his family and the ways in which the couple decided to raise their children with Esquire.
He stated: ‘Our life is anything but normal…my biggest thing is finding the ways I can normalize their lives, so that there is never any sense of, “I deserve X.”‘
The songwriter also expressed that he and his wife took after their own parents in terms of how they raised their daughters.
‘We had great parents that role modeled what it looked like to be a good mom and a good dad — but not pushovers. It’s easy to get rolled by your kid. Real easy,’ he said.
