Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker Open Up About ‘Terrifying’ Fetal Surgery 2-Year-Old Son Rocky Needed to Save His Life
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker Open Up About ‘Terrifying’ Fetal Surgery 2-Year-Old Son Rocky Needed to Save His Life
Kimberlee SpeakmanThu, August 13, 2026 at 6:41 PM UTC
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Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker in 2022 (left); Son Rocky watches his father performCredit: Presley Ann/Getty; Kourtney Kardashian/Instagram -
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker revealed in their new documentary that there were complications during the reality star’s pregnancy with their son Rocky Thirteen
Fetal surgery was required to save Rocky’s life after doctors discovered fluid in his lungs
The couple previously experienced a miscarriage and struggled with failed IVF treatments before conceiving Rocky
Kourtney Kardashian experienced scary pregnancy complications with her son Rocky Thirteen.
In the Hulu documentary Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear, Kardashian, 47, and Travis Barker, 50, opened up about the fetal surgery that was required to save Rocky Thirteen’s life.
Barker shared that he had been touring in Europe when he got a call from The Kardashians star. He recalled, “She says, ‘Trav, I went to my doctor and the baby’s lungs are filling with fluid,’ ” in a clip shared with E! News.
The Blink-182 drummer said fetal surgery, which is usually done to treat a life-threatening birth defect before birth, per Cleveland Clinic, was required. Doctors needed to drain the “fluid from the infant’s lungs” by “placing a needle through” Kardashian’s stomach — which made the reality star anxious.
“It was terrifying going in for the surgery,” Kardashian said in the documentary. “[Barker] canceled four shows, and he just came and laid with me in the hospital and made sure that everything was okay.”
Travis Barker (left) and Kourtney Kardashian with son RockyCredit: alabama luella barker/instagram
The fear was amplified by the fact that the couple had previously experienced a miscarriage, which they also revealed in the documentary. Barker shared, “Once you’ve experienced a miscarriage, you’re just waiting for something awful to happen.”
The couple said that they had been expecting a baby girl, whom they planned to name Tulip, in 2021, but they found out during their three-month check-up that the baby no longer had a heartbeat.
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“When we lost the baby, we were devastated,” Kardashian recalled in the documentary, per E! News. “We just laid in bed and cried for days.”
Kardashian shared during a Q&A in May 2024 that she underwent several failed IVF treatments in an attempt to get pregnant again, before deciding to stop. She eventually became pregnant with Rocky Thirteen, 2, after she stopped treatments and welcomed him in November 2023.
“I stopped after a year of trying (5 failed IVF cycles, 3 retrievals) my body relaxed and I believed in God’s plan for my life,” the mom of four wrote at the time. “Lots of prayers for whatever was meant to be for us. Also lots of optimizing my health. 🙏🏻❤️…”
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Kardashian shared in the documentary, per E! News, that she was thankful for Rocky Thirteen’s birth as it “gives” Barker “another chance to do what he loves most and does best: being a father.”
Kardashian also shares Mason, 16, Penelope, 13, and Reign, 11, with her ex Scott Disick, while Barker is father to son Landon, 22, daughter Alabama, 20, and stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, 27, with his ex-wife Shanna Moakler.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
