Listeners of Shannon's Dirty on the :30 know that we love some Royal Family news, but this story is heartbreaking. The Duchess of Sussex has revealed that she had a miscarriage in July. Today, she wrote a personal account of the traumatic experience to the New York Times in hope of helping others. She wrote that “I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.”
Meghan Markle and husband Prince Harry have an 18-month-old son, Archie. She said she was sharing her story to help break the silence around an all-too-common tragedy. “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few... In being invited to share our pain, together we take the first steps toward healing.”
The duchess described how tragedy struck on a “morning that began as ordinarily as any other day: Make breakfast. Feed the dogs. Take vitamins. Find that missing sock. Pick up the rogue crayon that rolled under the table. Throw my hair in a ponytail before getting my son from his crib." Then, “After changing his diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right.”
In September, the honesty and openness of model Chrissy Teigen about her pregnancy loss with John Legend sent a powerful message to anyone who loses a baby: this may feel incredibly lonely, but you are not alone. We're glad both powerful women chose to break the stigma of miscarriage through honest conversation.