Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has opened up about a deeply personal chapter of her life, revealing her ongoing fertility struggles in her new documentary Good Grief. The film, which held its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 4, 2026, captures the 46-year-old artist grappling with the emotional toll of trying to start a family with her husband, actor Joe Tippett.
While the project fundamentally focuses on the creation of her upcoming album alongside trusted bandmates, it quickly shifts into an emotionally raw exploration of her two-year battle to conceive. The candid revelation surfaces during an intimate studio break when she confides in a musical collaborator who is facing similar fertility challenges, admitting that she has undergone the process a few times without success.
During one particularly heartbreaking scene, Bareilles breaks down in tears while discussing her potential next steps. She reveals that the likely path forward is exploring the egg donor process, a reality she openly wept over while mourning the fact that her future child won’t be biologically hers. This unguarded conversation strips away the glossy pop-star narrative, showing a woman grieving the loss of her initial expectations for parenthood.
But the singer has found comfort through inner reflection. Bareilles shared that a dedicated meditation practice has completely shifted her perspective on motherhood. She realized that love is expansive enough to take many forms and isn’t dependent on a child arriving in one specific, biological way. It is a poignant realization that anchors the film’s theme of finding healing through profound personal loss.
Bareilles and Tippett share a long collaborative and romantic history. The couple originally met in 2015 while working on the Broadway musical adaptation of Waitress, became engaged on New Year’s Day in 2023, and officially tied the knot in October 2025. Now, her fans are getting an unprecedented look into their private world as they move through this next challenging chapter together.