Meghan Markle says she had a miscarriage during her 2nd pregnancy earlier this year
- Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, opened up about having a miscarriage in July.
- Writing in an op-ed article for The New York Times, Meghan Markle said she was pregnant with her second child when she "felt a sharp cramp" one morning and realized what was happening.
- "I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second," the duchess wrote.
- The duke and duchess had not announced that they were expecting a second child. Their first child, Archie Harrison, was born in May 2019.
The Duchess of Sussex wrote a candid op-ed article in The New York Times on Wednesday in which she described having a miscarriage in July.
Writing in the piece, titled "The Losses We Share," Meghan Markle said she felt a "sharp cramp" one morning as she was changing her son's diaper.
The duchess wrote: "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. I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.
"Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband's hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we'd heal."
The duchess said the experience reminded her of a moment during her tour of South Africa last year, when a journalist asked whether she was OK, to which she replied: "Thank you for asking. Not many people have asked if I'm OK."
"I answered him honestly, not knowing that what I said would resonate with so many — new moms and older ones, and anyone who had, in their own way, been silently suffering," she wrote. "My off-the-cuff reply seemed to give people permission to speak their truth. But it wasn't responding honestly that helped me most, it was the question itself."
She added: "Sitting in a hospital bed, watching my husband's heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine, I realized that the only way to begin to heal is to first ask, 'Are you OK?'"
It is unknown how far along Markle was in her pregnancy when she had the miscarriage. The duke and duchess had not announced that they were expecting a second child.
Their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was born in May 2019.
Representatives for the Duchess of Sussex declined to comment when contacted by Insider.
Read the full op-ed on The New York Times
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- Meghan Markle says she and Prince Harry don't want to 'miss a single moment' of watching their son Archie grow during the pandemic
- Meghan Markle is encouraging women to get involved with politics — but she had to step back from royal life for her own voice to be heard