Alexandra Breckenridge's 'Virgin River' Character Experiences a Traumatic Pregnancy

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for those not caught up on Virgin River.

The hit Netflix drama series Virgin River ends with a cliffhanger in its Season 3 finale and serves even more drama in Season 4. If you recall, Jack (Martin Henderson) and Mel's (Alexandra Breckenridge) relationship reaches new heights during the fourth season, thanks to a shocking revelation.

The story reveals a new development in Jack's life, hinting at the possibility of him becoming a father, as Mel discovers she's pregnant. Mel's pregnancy plays a major role in Seasons 4 and 5 of Virgin River, as the show's leading lady finds herself in some traumatic scenarios. Following Mel's reveal, fans have wondered if Alexandra is pregnant in real life.

Alexandra and her husband share two children, and there is no indication that they're expecting a bundle of joy anytime soon. Alexandra and Casey's son Jack was born in 2016, and their daughter Billie was born in 2017.

In the past, Alexandra has been transparent about fearing her career would end once she chose to have kids. She previously opened up about hiding her pregnancy on the set of This Is Us (in which she played Kevin Pearson’s longtime love interest, Sophie) out of fear that she would be fired.

"I called [show creator Dan Fogelman] and said, 'I'm sorry. I'm pregnant,'" Alexandra told Us Weekly in 2017. "He was just like, 'Oh, that's amazing! Congratulations!' He's so nice."

With wardrobe tricks and post-production editing, This Is Us showrunners could conceal Alexandra's pregnancy with no problem. Fortunately, it looks like she only has Mel's pregnancy issues to deal with on Virgin River.

In the Season 3 finale of Virgin River, Mel discloses her pregnancy to Jack — but she isn't sure if he's the father. As expected, drama ensues, and the painstaking final father reveal doesn't happen until the Season 4 finale.

Luckily, everything works out because fans finally learn that Jack is indeed the father of her baby. The news comes after Mel and Jack's engagement. Not to mention, Charmaine confirms that Jack isn't the father of her twins.

Nevertheless, Season 5 takes a tragic twist when, in the fifth episode, Mel has a miscarriage. While in the restroom, she notices blood while wiping and hurriedly retreats to a private room in the clinic. Mel anxiously searches for her baby's heartbeat, only to break down in tears when she cannot locate it.

In a November 2023 interview with Deadline, Alexandra revealed that Mel originally wasn't supposed to lose her baby — but things changed when a new showrunner boarded the series for Season 5.

"Our new showrunner Sean and I talked at length about it before they started writing, and he and I felt that it may come as a shock to a lot of fans who are not happy with the outcome," she stated, "but we both felt that telling the story of a woman who had the miracle baby is very ... I feel like we go there a lot in television."

Alexandra continued, "But we felt like we were doing a disservice to the women who have had trouble conceiving and have fertility issues — which are so many women — and this storyline felt very real and very powerful for those women. So we both agreed that it was the right direction to go in for the character and to be able to tell that story."

"I know that there are a lot of fans who are not happy, and I sympathize and I get it, I really get it," she added. "But I felt a responsibility to women who experience infertility especially, to be as grounded as humanly possible."

She concluded, "I hope that we told the story in an appropriate way, and I hope that those people that experienced it came with us and hopefully stayed for the rest of the storyline."

Watch Virgin River on Netflix.