Hayden Panettiere Recalls 'Incredibly Difficult' Decision to Give Up Custody of Daughter Kaya, Now 11

"Panettiere, whose memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” arrives May 19, called the decision “incredibly difficult” and explained she believed she was acting in Kaya's best interest. She also called accusations that she “gave away” her child and had to be “forced” into treatment against her will “heartbreaking.” During the May 11 episode of Jay Shetty's “On Purpose” podcast, Panettiere tearfully recounted how she and Wladimir Klitschko raised Kaya together until 2018 when she gave full custody of Kaya to her ex."

"Panettiere said she struggled for years with undiagnosed postpartum depression after giving birth to Kaya. She recalled being “miserable” and “in tears all the time” and also reaching for alcohol in an attempt to quell her anxiety. The alcohol use, she told Shetty, compounded her problems to the point where she felt she was “going off the deep end.” During a hiatus for “Nashville,” she entered treatment for alcohol abuse but her postpartum depression remained unrecognized."

"“I was just a mess and there was nothing I could do to fix it properly,” she told Shetty. Panettiere said she "

"Panettiere and former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko welcomed their daughter Kaya in December 2014. The former couple began dating in 2009. After a 2011 split, they reconciled and announced their engagement in 2013. The pair called it quits for good in 2018."

Hayden Panettiere welcomed her daughter Kaya Evdokia Klitschko in December 2014 with Wladimir Klitschko. She said she struggled for years with undiagnosed postpartum depression after giving birth, describing constant misery and tears. She also said she turned to alcohol to manage anxiety, and that alcohol use worsened her condition until she felt she was “going off the deep end.” During a break from Nashville, she entered treatment for alcohol abuse, but postpartum depression remained unrecognized. In 2018, she gave full custody of Kaya to her ex, describing the decision as incredibly difficult and made in Kaya’s best interest. She called claims that she “gave away” her child and was forced into treatment heartbreaking.

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