My mother is a royal-fanatic, which is where I got my interest in the royals. She said last year, before Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got engaged, that if they got married, Meghan would get pregnant really, really quickly. I always sort of doubted that though – while Meghan does need to get going on The Royal Baby Timeline (she’s 36, and will be 37 in August), I also thought that since the courtship and engagement was so truncated, she and Harry would spend some time just adjusting to being married and allowing Meghan to really get her feet wet as a duchess before getting pregnant. After all, that’s what Will and Kate did – Kate didn’t get pregnant until about a year and a half after the wedding. In any case, Katie Nicholl – who is promoting her shady Prince Harry book – says that Harry and Meg plan to get pregnant very quickly after the wedding. Quotes from Nicholl’s interview with Entertainment Tonight:
Harry is keen: “My sources are saying that Prince Harry, particularly, is very keen to start a family, pretty soon after the royal wedding,” Nicholl exclusively told ET on Tuesday. “He’s made no secret about wanting children.”
Uncle Harry loves his niece and nephew: “I think that moment [for Harry] really kicked in when his brother, Prince William, of course, settled down with Kate Middleton. That has definitely gotten Prince Harry pretty broody.”
Meghan was keen to meet George & Charlotte: “Meghan was really keen to obviously meet Prince William and Kate, but she really wanted to meet Princess Charlotte and Prince George. Apparently, it is just a walk across the courtyard from Prince Harry’s cottage, which is Nottingham Cottage, to the big house where William and Kate’s children live. Meghan is very doting with children. She is very maternal and she was thrilled to meet George and Charlotte. I think one of the lovely things, anecdotes that I discovered [while writing] the book was, it was actually a moment involving children, when Meghan really fell for Prince Harry.”
Harry wants to show Meghan that they can have a happy family: “The reason he wanted Meghan to meet Prince George and Princess Charlotte was so she could see that — this would be hopefully replicated by them, that they would go on to have children. That you marry into the royal family, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a regular family with cute children, and here are George and Charlotte to show that that can happen. That was really important to him.”
So when will Meghan get pregnant? Will she have an old-fashioned honeymoon baby, or will they wait six months or so? Despite what Nicholl says, I really doubt that Harry is pressuring Meghan to start a family very quickly and think he wants to make sure Meghan is adjusting well and all of that. That being said, I think that Meghan knows that her fertility window is closing (don’t @ me) and she knows that she should probably get knocked up in the first year of marriage. I expect a pregnancy announcement by… I don’t know. Thanksgiving?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Pacific Coast News.
Goodness, is the word “keen” used that much in the UK and used on everybody?
The “knocked up quickly” comment made me burst out laughing.Bt seriously this book starting to make me RME so much.
On a more serious note, I think Harry and Meghan are gonna do things their way at their pace. Many women, including celebrities, have gotten pregnant well into their 40s so 37 is not really that old folks.
I’d never realised how much we use this word until KP started abusing it in relation to Kate.
It feels like it’s been co-opted by KP. She could apply to trademark the word and everyone would nod along because ‘keen’ and ‘Kate’ are synonymous now.
It really depends on your body. Mine is not cooperating well, and I’m almost exactly Meghan’s age. I was always too busy to have my second kid, and never thought about freezing my eggs, and right now I’m kicking myself.
Fertility consultation next week. Yay 😒
Hugs @Liz, fertility issues are no fun 🙁
Hugs. I hope the appointment goes well.
❤️Thanks guys.
Hugs to you, Liz. May your basket be full of little lemons 🍋🍋🍋
I have my fingers crossed for you!
Liz, Just wanted to give you some hope– We had our first at 32. Started trying for a 2nd baby at around 36. Tried for years. Didn’t happen. At age 40, I slowly was starting to realize that it was not going to happen. I was very unaccepting of that idea, and very bitter. I spent so much time during those years feeling heartbroken, disappointed every month, frustrated, & just totally disheartened. When I turned 41 this past August, it sunk in that my days of possibly having another baby were over. Then, just before Christmas, when I was least expecting it, I found out that we are expecting! I am now 4 1/2 months along with what appears thus far to be a healthy pregnancy/baby. I was the very last person who I thought this would happen to; don’t give up hope!
Thank you K-Peace!
I as well know a couple of folks who went through secondary infertility and now have healthy and happy 2nd (and 3rd) children.
@Congrats K-Peace
It happened to my sister who wasn’t trying. She was happy with her one and is a career woman x million and thought it was perhaps her trade off. Then it happened in her forties and has a little one now that she just adores. She says she didn’t know she wanted another until the baby came. Her older child is thrilled. We all are.
@Liz
I know you are a determined woman from your posts. It will happen. Don’t be afraid to try different things too. I have heard all sorts of things worked for people including natural therapies. I just feel it and will say something when I meditate to send some vibes to you and the other women wishing for a pregnancy.
You guys honestly made me cry today-thank you for all the good vibes and good thoughts.
Best of luck, LizLemon! Wishing you happy fertility vibes all around 🙂
Good luck to you, Liz, you’ll be in my thoughts today. I have several friends who ended up pregnant between the ages of 38-45, who thought the whole baby thing was over for them. It definitely can happen! A lot of times it is when you least expect it.
And congrats to you, K-Peace, wonderful news!
Yeep, I had secondary infertility. No ovulation. Found out my pineal gland was calcified. You can see it on an MMRI scan. The pineal gland is the bodies mater switch for the endochrine system. It controls the sex hormones, serotonin and melatonin (which controls your sleep wake cycle. I ended up infertile, on anti depressants and in early onset menopause in my 30’s. and suffering chronic insomnia – as in I would put out no melatonin for up to 14 weeks at a time. Had to take benzos just to survive until I slowly started to put out some melatomin and sleep again. But after a few months the whole thing would happen again. I was told I had less registering estrogen and progesterone than a cadaver. It was that bad.
So you need to ditch fluoride toothpaste and go herbal. Fluoride attracts minerals such a calcium to the pineal gland and it manfunctions. Ditch aluminium deodorant. Go herbal. Aluminium is a heavy metal also munts the pineal gland. Take black seed, Neem, Green Pastures Fermented Skate Fish oil (it has the right mix of vit d’s and K apparantly) , and take copious amounts of magnesium (no magnesium phosphate though) and the antagonist co factor for magnesium which is iodine. Steer well clear of Calcium carbonate. This is the worst offender. Ok, so when I get my pineal gland working and hormones up again I think I will sure have a better chance of getting pregnant again.
You only find this stuff out by being your own best health advocate and doing the research yourself. Your doctor and fertility specialist will just laugh at you and try and pump you fill of fake hormones which in 74% of the time just makes things worse. That’s right, when I went through fertility specialist here in NZ they had to leagally disclose their success rate for a women of my age in my 30’s. I was shocked. It was 14%. The underlying issues never get fixed you see. I would reccomend getting a naturpath stat too. I really hope this info helps somebody and gives you another way of approaching things.
That’s definitely true I’ve never had an issue getting pregnant in fact the husband and I are are expecting our 3rd and last little one in a couple months and we are just a few years younger the Meghan. Now my youngest sister, who is due two weeks before me, is still in her 20s and has had fertility issues. Fingers crossed everything goes well for you.
I was thinking the same thing. Is this an English thing? Or a royal thing? I’ve never seen people use the word “keen” so much.
It’s definitely a posh thing that’s for sure. I went to university of saint Andrews and the word got used and abused nonstop
There was a Katie Keen in the Archie and Veronica comics of my childhood. It’s the only place I’ve seen the word used.
Yes, “many women” have, but many others are not so lucky. I’m about to turn 38 and we’ve been trying for a baby since I was 35. No identified fertility problem and two failed IVF cycles. My mother had my brother at 41 so I always assumed it would be ok to wait. There’s really no guarantees when it comes to fertility.
TrixC big hugs to you; fertility issues are frustrating, sometimes heartbreaking and very mysterious. I have endometriosis and knew I had it for years. Had a feeling I wasn’t fertile. Went off BC in 2014, figuring if it happens it happens but knowing deep inside it wouldn’t. My husband and I have been together for 13 years now, we weren’t married but knew we were life patterns. Anywhoo, we were somewhat careful the first year, more careless the second, then in the third we knew I couldn’t get pregnant. Long story short I had some other health issues I needed to address (severe torn rotator cuff, SLAP tear of labrum, calcified tendons, bursitis, bone spurs and arthritis in r shoulder), so we got married in the beginning of 2016, I got better health insurance through my now husband. I got my shoulder surgery, saw an OB specializing in fertility, who said I needed surgery and I was going to do around christmas time of that same year (I didn’t want to have 2 surgeries back to back the recovery for my shoulder was intense, the anesthesia made me feel weird and bad for months). Getting to the dang point: In August of that same year we took a trip to Joshua Tree together to see the Perseids Meteor shower. We airbnb’d a romantic cabin with a hot tub to watch the shower. Low and behold I was feeling sick weeks later, nauseous and STARVING all the time. We found out in October that I was pregnant with twins, we had two girls on April 11th 2017, born on the Strawberry full moon in libra (my husband and I are both libras.) I mean we weren’t even trying there was no pressure, we were just trying to enjoy life until I got the surgery. I wanted to share this story, even though I’m a private person, to maybe give you hope that fertility is mysterious and the doctor said she wasn’t sure how I was able to get pregnant. But it can happen, and you gotta believe it can. Lastly, I wanted to say that because I was frustrated about my own infertility, I researched natural treatments I could do myself. I researched several herbs, and selected around 3-5 to make teas with and rotated them with another herb I felt would be good for my endo. If you want I can mail you (if you live in the US) a large container of the herbs mixed together because I don’t want any more children right now, our hands are full. Anecdotally, I gave a jar of these herbs to my cousin who suffered from infertility and 3 miscarriages. She took the herbs for 3 months and got pregnant with her daughter, Seren, who was born 11.11.16. So I only have a sample size of 2 people but I would say the herbs work. It also regulated my cycle perfectly with the moon, ovulating on a full moon and bleeding on the new. Postpartum I now do the opposite, which I think means I’m not fertile again (bleeding on full ovulating on new) but who knows, we’re still careful. Best wishes to you, I truly hope you get the family you desire. Hang in there!
Thanks for your kind response to my post. Really interesting to hear your story, you must feel so blessed with your babies. I’m not in the US but would be interested to know which herbs you took.
I’m thinking 6 months or so. I don’t think it’s wrong to think at her age she isn’t thinking about starting a family quickly.
Tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if she spends time with kate and the kids. I could buy that. Not the mentoring stuff but that they probably do see each other often.
I don’t buy the “Meghan and Kate spend so much time together” BS, these women barely know each other. My guess is they are friendly and nice to each other but thats about it; no one is going out of their way to constantly drop in on anyone and invade their space uninvited.
I didn’t say they were close but I could see them spending time together as they seem to be friendly. I only go uninvited to people I grew up with and my best friends. They definitely arent there
Harry and Meghan said in their engagement interview that they spend time with Will and Kate. Besides being neighbors they’re also going to be working together. The two couples will lead their own lives/initiatives but it’s no stretch to imagine them getting along quite well. So far they seem comfortable together.
Actually they didn’t. Harry said they spent alot of time with his family meeting all the important people in his life until finally William asked to meet MM because Harry was spending so much time with her.
MM then added that she had met Kate who had been wonderful without going into details.
Interviewer then changed topics.
@Shotcaller, IA, but I don’t believe the “Kate and Meghan are think as thieves” narrative that’s being pushed. As I said, I believe they’re friendly and nice to each other but I don’t think it goes any deeper than that.
I didn’t say they were joined at the hip ir that she and Kate get together to bake cookies and paint their nails. We know Harry took Meghan to meet Kate on or around her birthday in 2017 – three months after they became official. We know they made a trip to Anmer for another, longer visit. We know they have visited Kate, William and the kids at apartment 1A although we don’t know how often. We know they spent Christmas together at Anmer. Not sure how this is contradictory but okay. *shrug*
Masamf
You may be right. The palace really needs to promote this fab foursome, as LAK calls it. We’ll see, I guess. I just don’t see it as strange.
My take is that Kate is harder to get to know and wary of people. I think Meghan is a win someone over at all costs kind of person. I relate to that because I do it too. It is almost a challenge, and I refuse to be deterred which is why I seem to collect friends who other people find difficult or are shy introverts. I watch and observe them and then find common ground. In the end, my reward has been profound, meaningful friendships with often misunderstood people who are fiercely loyal.
This is why I think she will get along well with the family.
I also think this will help her get along with Kate long term. William already seems to like her genuinely, and they smile at each other a lot.
I don’t think they will be best friends because they are very different but I don’t see issues. I believe she loves playing with the children. Who could resist them?
I agree with this. I don’t think they’re really all that awkward with each other, but they’re friendly. Maybe not close but friendly.
OMG does that mean no more BFF mani pedis Joannie?
My agony knows no bounds. lol
As LAK writes, W&K were not the main ones on the list these two were spending time with. Met yes, besties and hanging out all the time MM was visiting? No.
As others have written, MM would be smart to be collegial. These will be her co-workers for years, even if there is never a close personal relationship that develops. W&K are incredibly insular with the Middletons. They are Middletons essentially.
If time ever came to close ranks, Meghan would be the first one they turn against. If she ends up outworking KM even through professionalism vs. engagement numbers? It will be interesting to see how the Middleton PR machine will respond. A la Diana vs. Fergie I suspect. In some ways, we’re already seeing that through KM’s increased engagement numbers.
There has never been any friendship between Harry and either Pippa or Terribly James Matthews. The invite for H+M to that wedding? I see that as a Middleton PR move to try to ensure reciprocal invites to this wedding.
I’m willing to believe that they’re at least somewhat close. I’m not saying they’re best friends who tell each other everything. But who does she have besides Harry? She’s moved over to a completely new continent. It only makes sense that she would hang around with his circle of people. It doesn’t mean they’ll always be tight, or that they’re super tight now. But hanging out with your significant others’ siblings only makes sense in this scenario.
And honestly – even if I didn’t like W&K as inlaws – I’d be hard pressed to stay away from the niece/nephew. Because those kids are hella adorable, and they’re at a super fun age.
I agree. I don’t think they close or anything but Meghan and Kate are the same age and have this crazy spotlight on them being royal wives [to be] of Diana’s boys. The the only ones in the world who know that feeling. Kate has been there. Meghan is just starting. So it is not surprising they likely get on well. They are “stuck together” for the rest of their lives so might as well try.
@Erin, Meghan does not have just Harry to automatically gravitate towards Kate. Meghan has had friends in London for a long time, she had been visiting friends in London and in Ireland long before she met Harry. So the claims that Kate is the only person she can interact with other than Harry are simply not true. And I never said they don’t get along, I said at the most, they are friendly and are nice to each other, that means they somehow get along if for nothing else but for the peace in their respective families. But what I don’t believe is the narrative thats being forced out that somehow, Meghan is such BFFs with Kate that Kate has taken her under her wing, is protecting her at all costs and is mentoring her on everything re: BRF, and oh BTW, they are such buddy buddies that Meghan pops at Kates every day to see the kiddies and bake some cookies”
Normally 36 year old women don’t form insta BFF bonds from the outset. I am sure they will make a point to try to get along, but it will be years before it is realistic for them to be actual friends.
I think she will get pregnant very quickly. I think Will and Kate waited because their first year of marriage was HM’s diamond jubilee year.
As an aside, I am surprised Pippa isn’t pregnant. I expected them to start a family immediately.
I am not a fan of James, so I am not surprised. They probably have things they need to settle first.
Dish! Is James problematic?
@magnoliarose,
Yes, please continue. I want to hear more about James, too! I still think they married a little too quickly after the Nico breakup, despite having already been acquainted with each other.
Does James look… unhealthy to anyone else, or is that just me?
Sophia Side eye caught it. He is/was a very hard party guy and isn’t at all what he’s been sold to be. He is more like his truly despicable brother in his habits and has/had an eye for pretty women and not discreet about it at all.
From what I was told he isn’t especially likable and has a seedy side to him and isn’t husband material.
Pips was in New York quite often and liked to tie one herself and liked the hard party crowd herself. Nothing outrageous for a single woman except she was desperate to find a wealthy man and someone said she didn’t like that her pedigree failed to impress anyone. A little much is how she was described. That isn’t big news to anyone.
So they had that in common, but he is/was more hardcore than she ever was. It is isn’t just snowing around him it is a freaking blizzard. At least it was for a long time.
I know he was out with other women after the marriage, but I have no idea what he is up to now. Maybe he’s a changed man.
And he doesn’t have the kind of money that was reported but then again neither do the Middletons.
The brother on Made in Chelsea was defo a coke head. It was well documented. He was carted off to rehab a few times.
Magno,
Very interesting. I thought he was nicer than the sicko brother (who claims to have slept with over 1,000 women) who by the way is engaged and is expecting a child with his fiancée . I saw James as a bit goofy but nice. Boy, he sounds shady!
Magnolia – your blizzard comment makes me wonder if that is why he looks so old for his age. There was something from a German gossip link that he works really long hours, like 16 hr days so she is on her own a lot. Makes sense for his line of work. Oh, and why did he say he liked Pippa years ago, but she ‘needed to mature’ huh?! Maybe he had to mature?!
@Sharon Lea
That is exactly why he not only looks older but like someone who has been through a health crisis. It shows around his eyes and the gauntness in his face along with unexplained accelerated aging. He was also looking very thin at one point. From some angles, he looks very aged. Long hours does not look like that, and it is also the same excuse used for decades to explain unfaithful absentee husbands.
James does have a face that was never going to be a babyface but not to that degree, and it isn’t sun damage either. Some but not like that.
I was shocked at his appearance at the wedding, and there was a photo of them where he looked zonked out of his mind a few years ago.
Pips benefits from her closeness to the BRF because they don’t write unfavorable stories about her or him. But the billionaire title that was bandied about in the papers is one of the funniest things I have ever read and just so like 45 and his crew.
@magnoliarose – “billionaire title the funniest thing” – are you saying he is only moderately wealthy? That house is ginormous.
I always thought that James was the good brother. Working hard, taking care of his parents, sporty, family oriented…
@Magnoliarose, thanks for the additional scoop on James. I never bought the Terribly Rich James reputation some in the media were pushing. I think it was Kaiser that deemed him Moderately Rich James, which is probably more accurate. His unofficial ‘rebranding’ came about after word got out that his hedge fund had lost a bundle of other people’s money. But, when you have a wealthy parent, stature and connections within the high finance world, you’re never really poor unless you’re a total f-up.
@Olenna
That is why Kaiser’s Moderately Wealthy James tag is dead on and slight shade.
Hedge fund managers are what rich people have their aimless sons do to have a job title and appear successful. There are very wealthy hedge fund managers but not ones with a tainted reputation.
What is evident about him being moderately wealthy is his lack of presence on the business scene. Successful financiers are known, and their names make the news. He is only known as Pippa’s husband. Is any magazine quoting him about the economy and his opinions on Brexit? Movers and shakers are all over the Brexit implications and what that means to the global economy.
Where would he get these so called billions? He owns no company and isn’t a CEO anywhere well known. We are supposed to believe he is on par with Evan Sharp of Pinterest, some of the Rothschilds and Estee Lauder heirs? Eden Rock has been connected to scandals and shady dealings.
@Rhys
He bought his original house for a good price and made a hefty profit selling it. He doesn’t even clear a million a year from his job. Articles cite the claim of how much money the hedge manages and not actually what part of it is his and it is far below the PR quotes. Which leads me to think he is crap at his job.
At their age, I too would be wanting to start a family.
Yes, the fertility window for women is remarkably small. It doesn’t benefit women who want to have children to ignore biology and time.
I’m certain that Ive read that Meghan had some of her eggs frozen, before she even met Harry. I ģuess she knew she might try to get pregnant a bit later in life. Smart planning!
Most of those studies on women’s fertility used data that’s pretty old. I know a lot of women who have had children in their 40s. I’m in my late 30s and if I’m not super careful I get pregnant at the drop of at hat (pregnant right now). My doctor told me my chance of birth defects is like slightly higher than if I was in my 20s and not to worry about it. Birth defects are still really rare if nothing runs in your family. I’d guess Megan has plenty of time to have kids. She seems perfectly healthy.
A good thing…the chance for multiples increases with age. And I may be mistaken, but I think African American women have a higher incidence of multiples than caucasian women.
Yay, babies!!
Meghan will have a slightly higher chance of twins. It increases with age too.
Little ginger twins would be darling.
yes, I do not think they will wait. I would assume they want more than one child so waiting is not in the best interest at all. It’s not even about fertility but the chances for things like down syndrome greatly increase with age.
As for Kate waiting a year and half, she was also 29 when she got married so she had ample time to wait, her fertility window wasn’t “closing” anytime soon.
The pressure we women face really sucks, I am only 28 and pregnant with my second but there was so much pressure when we began trying if I could conceive again (I had a lot of complications with my first and we were told we only had about a 15% chance of being able to conceive naturally), now being pregnant it’s the stress of will the baby be okay? Will I be able to carry a healthy child to term? It’s all so hard, stressful and terrible. I really do feel bad for MM because she probably has the pressure from all ends of the BRF and the scrutiny of the media as well.
@Lela I have been there. I had mine younger than the average and had multiple by 30. How far along are you? If you don’t mind the question.
Magnoliarose I am only 10 weeks along, so very early.
Congratulations!
I greatly dislike when doctors give percentages like that.
After I had one of my children, my placenta was slow to follow, and the nurse said I would probably need a hysterectomy which made me panic. All ended up ok in the end, but it stayed with me for a long time.
When it comes to these things for some reason, there are those who can’t seem to understand we really don’t need the extra stress. It is already stressful.
So when I had my next child, all I could think about was what the nurse said, and I felt stressed and worried for the last trimester.
Nothing happened.
Statistics work in our favor, but then no one thinks maybe that is what we need to hear.
I am sure you will be fine. You are very close to the “safe” trimester. I wish you well and less stress! I will send some extra vibes to you too.
Hugs and I just feel it will be ok. FWIW. 🙂
I honestly believe this is why the romance was sort of rushed, including the approval of his family. Not complaining!
I don’t think this is why it was rushed at all.
Ari, are you thinking Philip’s age?
@Lady D… well I don’t think they are rushing, for one. I think it is pretty natural time table for an older couple. Dating in your 30s is different than dating in your 20s. You typically discover pretty early on if it is work your time. So being engaged well into a year into your relationship is not surprising. But yes… I do think HM and PoE’s ages are playing a role in a lot of things with the BRF. Eugenie’s engagement comes to mind as well.
“A 27-year old woman has an 86% chance of getting pregnant within a year. And a 37-year-old woman? 82%”
Guys. We have to stop acting like a woman in her late 30’s is ALWAYS going to struggle to conceive. It’s just not true. There will be people who have a hard time. But that happens at ANY age. There’s literally a 4% difference between myself and Meghan when it comes to conceiving.
There’s so much mis-information that’s been spread. MODERN data is the key. And think about why it’s been ingrained in us. Who does it benefit for women to worry about fertility to this degree? Men, and people who are making a fortune off of egg freezing.
“Dr. Jean Twenge, psychologist and author of The Impatient Woman’s Guide to Getting Pregnant, did research into the research of fertility and discovered that no one was really questioning the fact that all the information that we have about fertility, in studies as current as the 2000s, is based on census records from the 1600s. “And that’s a problem,” Twenge points out. “because they come from a time before fertility treatment, antibiotics, or modern medicine.”
Conover adds that there could be any number of reasons women weren’t getting pregnant at that time, from disease, to their husbands being off at war.”
Preach it Erinn. Many women are easily getting pregnant well in their 40s while many others in their early 20s are struggling to conceive!! Conception is unique to each individual!!
@ERINN thank you. I had my babies at 37 and 39 with virtually no trying. When I brought up concerns about my age with my GP and my OBGYN they both said I had very little to worry about. I’m healthy and in good shape so both pregnancies were easy for me. Most of my friends/mom group acquaintances had their kids in their 30s. Yes Meghan will have an increased risk of things like downs syndrome and other genetic abnormalities but it’s not like she will be struggling for medical assistance.
I doubt she will have that much trouble getting pregnant and having a healthy baby.
Statistics are so often repeated without context. We also evolve because life expectancy is longer. It would also reason better nutrition, and medical care has added to the reasons age isn’t as disastrous as we are led to believe.
I have mine at 41 and 43. It took a month with the first, and a panic inducing 6 months with the second. That said, I had genetics on my side. My mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all had babies at or older than MM’s current age. There are no guarantees of course but my daughter can now look to 4 generations of women to get a clue on her own fertility when planning a family. Best of luck to MM that she has no problems and can conceive when she wishes to.
Where are you getting that stat? Statistics without context mean nothing.
We aren’t implying that ALL women over 35 will have difficulty getting pregnant. But it is a medical fact that after the age of 35 fertility declines at an accelerating rate – it may be fine getting pregnant the first time, but it’s especially pertinent if they want to have multiple children. Yes, some women still have a wonderfully easy time getting pregnant. But some will be shocked to find that it’s much harder than anticipated. I had my children early because my mother tried and failed for years starting at age 39. Medical science is amazing, but it is certainly not foolproof when it comes to fertility.
I’ll again trot out my story of having my first baby at 39 and second a week after I turned 47. No problem getting pregnant, each baby healthy. Everyone is different.
Again, it isn’t that NO women get pregnant in their late 30s/early 40s. It’s that they can’t predict which women will have fertility issues and which won’t.
That percentage is taken out of context. When you see a fertility specialist they run several tests and look at your overall health then give you a score. It varies for each woman. Its a more complext thing. Just because a women had her 3rd kid at 43, or knows somebodies cousin that had one doesn’t mean the next woman is going to get pregnant.
Erinn, so agree. I was 32 when trying to cincieve my first and by doctor told me it would take over a year and I got pregnancy within 6 and then he said that same held true for send baby and just because the first came easier not guaranteed for second. Once again I wanted to beat the clock, I got pregnant even quicker with my second. My husband said: your OBGYN is fired. 😉
We’ve bought into the hype and so agree with you.
I was thinking the same thing. She looks ten years younger, at least in photos, but is 36. I finished having my family at 37. Was she not married before? Maybe she chose not to have children then. So much for the honeymoon phase, they probably will be parents soon after the wedding…..like a Duggar….lol. Struck me as a little strange that Harry wanted to show her they could have a happy family. Does she need convincing? I’m guessing she will try very hard to be a mother.
Nancy, Im beginning to think that a lot of stuff in this book speaks more to the personality of the AUTHOR rather than to Harry’s or Meghan’s. It seems, at least to me, that she made up a lot of stuff and attributed them to Hard or Meghan, therefore I don’t believe most of her story. The “Harry wanted to convince Meghan about royal babies” is just more of author’s BS to me.
Don’t know. I got married at 35, but we started trying when I was 34 due to my age. After two years, we just threw up our hands and accepted that we’re the parents of two Siamese cats. My advice to this couple: get started.
She can wait until she is about 38-39 I’m sure she will get the best fertility treatment if she needs it. Plus the royal family usually live until they are like 150 years old.lol
That assumes she only wants 1 kid. And advanced fertility treatments are NOT fun.
Yes, if they want more than 1 they really should start trying (or at least stop using contraception) pretty quickly.
Even assuming she has no trouble conceiving her first (or even second) right away, the fact is that pregnancy and then breastfeeding (if she chooses to do that) is HARD on your body, and there is a limit to how much of it you can outsource. It’s good for the mother’s health not to have kids back to back. I had my first at 33 and am currently just shy of 36 and we just started TTC #2. I honestly was not ready to even contemplate being pregnant again until my first was around 18 months, I just needed that time to recover from #1.
My grandmothers both started having kids in their late 30s and each had 3 back to back pregnancies, finishing up in their early 40s. You can really see it took a physical toll on them. Pre-kid photos they are glowing, trim figures, beautiful skin. Photos of them holding baby #3 show weight gain, sagging skin, and a LOT of aging for <5 years time elapsed. Granted they were both running businesses and did not have all the help MM will likely have, but unless she hires a surrogate and a wet nurse…her body is going to have to bear the load.
Fertility treatments are not 100% guaranteed and can be extremely trying on a relationship (even when money isn’t an issue) – and the best chance they will have of getting pregnant would be to start trying as soon as possible – if that’s what she wants.
So much this. Hopefully they don’t have to worry about it but even if they did she will have support in that as well in Sophie. She too was an older mother so if anyone knows that pressure it is her.
I’m in my mid thirties, single and worry about fertility (and there are no tabloids breathlessly speculating about my womb) so I feel for her and don’t think she will wait long if she can help it. However I think it’s likely she had eggs frozen (many women with the means in their 30s do as an insurance policy) and women can carry without issue well into their 40s, so I do think there will be lotsof cute kids to come.
Freezing eggs is not the way to beat the clock, unfortunately. “Less than 2% of patients’ eggs thawed between 2008 and mid-2013 resulted in live births, according to analysis of HFEA figures.” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/24/women-false-hope-freezing-eggs
That photo where Harry is wearing a blue sweater. Is that photoshopped? It does not seem like Harry and Meghan are in the same room
Yes, it totally looks they were photoshopped together.
No, they entered a room. Harry was in the shadow, Meghan was not.
The picture is them in Cardiff, it has been online since their Cardiff visit. The other pics are when Meghan group hugs kids etc. its not photoshopped.
I used to think fertility discussions on women in whir 30s were concern trolling, but now I’m experiencing secondary infertility at 31 (two unexplained miscarriages after having a baby at 28). So, I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to get a start on it quickly. It sucks to avoid pregnancy for 15+years to only have issues when you finally want to be pregnant.
I also felt the same way. I had a missed miscarriage at 26 (last year) and am now pregnant (5 weeks along) and hoping and wishing that everything is alright. You truly never know
Anyone at any age can have fertility issues. I hate these speculations because we can’t reall know if they want children asap or if they do if she gets pregnant immediately. Just puts them under pressure.
She also may not want kids, I for one, hope that the media and people in general don’t make a federal issue of out the state of her womb. She’ll have kids, or she won’t, it’s none of our business.
It’s definitely none of our business but I think the minute the wedding is over there will be pregnancy speculation. I don’t envy her.
This is the life she chose. She knew what lie ahead. Could have said no to that blind date. She seems extremely excited, even to the point of baptism to his religion. She’s totally into this. She was an actress, and probably still loves the attention she gets and wow is it ever going to grow hereon in.
It’s none of our business, but the media will make it their business. So I hope if indeed they are keen to have children that it happens for them. Poor Stephanie of Luxemburg still isn’t pregnant after 5.5 years. She may not want children but the press is endlessly speculating about the state of her womb.
She just turned 34 and stated flat out in their engagement interview they wouldn’t start trying for at least three years. Interesting for a devout Catholic couple, no? She has said recently they’re content as they are for now. She’s the youngest of 8 and her mother had her at 43. It may well be they are telling the truth – they’re not trying right now and feel they have plenty of time.
The line of succession is in no danger. The next person in line, Felix, has two children with his wife Claire. Plus there are two more siblings in that generation who are in the line and in their 20s.
It isn’t like Stephanie is working hard in the interim; she’s even lazier than Kate Middleton. The only project she has embraced is one that lets her flit around Europe attending art openings and movie premiers in Paris, Rome, Cannes and calling it work. Her mother in law is busy working with refugees, the homeless, hospice care, war zone sexual assault survivors, etc.
Meghan definitely wants kids and has mentioned it many times. She even spoke in detail about purchasing this watch that she engraved for herself that she wants to pass down to her future daughter “if she was blessed to have one”
So that isn’t in question. Though I do agree people don’t need to pressure them. They know their own schedule but the press will anyways. The day after the wedding the baby countdown in the press will begin.
If she didn’t want kids, she’s marrying in to the wrong family. It seems the point of then is simply to continue to exist.
Made me laugh, Nick2.
@OriginalLala – finally, someone had brought this up! All this talk about fertility and hurrying up to become a mother reminds me of this woman at a party who was trying to convince me that I better have a baby NOW, because I WILL want one in a few years but it’ll be too late! Practically yelling at me. The horror! She wouldn’t believe when I said that I’ve never wanted to be a mother and most likely won’t in the future. Love kids, but don’t want to be a mom.
My guess is they will get pregnant within the first year of marriage but not right away. I bet she wants a few months to get her feet under her for some of the “big” events – Trooping the Colour, etc. I bet we have a pregnancy announcement by this time next year, maybe a bit earlier.
They also probably will not announce as early as they do for Kate since its unlikely MM will have HG. So we may get an announcement next March but an August baby.
I vote a New Years announcement of impending birth.
The thing about fertility issues is that you don’t know until you try. “Unexplained infertility” is the most common diagnosis, and can take years to figure out. The sooner you start, the more runway you have.
Agreed. My husband and I passed all of our fertility tests with flying colors. We just finished our second IVF, and things aren’t looking good. I’m several years younger than Meghan and hope she doesn’t have any trouble TTC. I imagine that there would be some security concerns with an IVF procedure using royal sperm.
There may be security concerns, but other royals have been able to do IVF without incident. Sophie and Edward openly used IVF for Louise, said James was a happy natural event when Sophie was 42. Likely Albert II and Charlene of Monaco and Victoria and Daniel of Sweden also used IVF.
Do female royals-to-be still have to undergo some kind of gynaecological exam prior to the wedding – assuming it’s to assess fertility?
I think that is only for women who will marry a direct heir. They want to make sure the line will continue. Harry is 6th in line so this really isn’t an issue for H&M. Meghan is older but seems to be fit and in excellent health, so I don’t think she’ll have major problems.
Whoa, they have to do that? that’s insane!
No.
This practise died out several decades earlier, but because of the *media prurient intetest in Diana’s virginity, it became urban legend made fact by repetition that she had a test to make sure of it.
*various family members were also happy to speak on record about her supposed virginity as much as the media emphasised the need for a future Queen Consort not to have ex-lovers lurking in the bushes ready to sell their kiss and tells.
ETA: here is Tina Brown on the subject: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/04/a-very-different-engagement-the-cult-of-dianas-virginity
Thanks Lak!
In the engagement interview Harry said no about five times, before adding hopefully soon; I don’t think he’s ready.
When they are ready, I hope it’s painless and easy for them, but with Harry’s drinking and both of them being smokers (or recently ex-smokers) it may not be a fast process.
Whaaaattt? I have never heard anything of Meghan being a smoker! Am I missing something?
No. You’re wrong on a few points. Harry didn’t say no too many times in the interview. If you remember he said “Not currently, no” which could mean, even though this was a quick engagement, we by no means are pregnant. We just want to get married and then he said “of course, you know, one step at a time and hopefully we can start a family in the NEAR future” which means they want babies within the timeframe of 0-5 years. Very soon. Harry has expressed his desire to have a family and I think he wants a pretty large one, about 3 maximum and Meghan has said before she wanted children, and you can see it in the way she interacts with children on engagements so…in my opinion I see them announcing a pregnancy around the Invictus Games in Australia in October. Maybe early November which seems to be a trend for these two announcing things pertaining their relationship. I don’t see them getting pregnant right away but I definitely see them waiting 3 to 4 months before starting a family.
Also, Meghan is a non-smoker, she admitted she hated it and Harry must have quit smoking a year or two ago, before Meghan so don’t believe tabloids.
@Tamy Tammy, it was reported that Harry quit smoking about a couple of months or so ago. Meghan has always been a non-smoker as far as I know; Kate is the one that might have smoked at some point in uni but she too probably quit after a few puffs, or so I heard.
Meghan might be a “social smoker,” as I’ve seen a picture of her on holiday smoking a cigarette. My best friend used to do it and I’ll never understand it. I smoked for a decade but once I quit, I had to quit forever.
I am guessing around Oct/Nov as well.
I have never seen any pictures of Meghan smoking and she has stated before that she was not a fan of the habit.
Eh that doesn’t mean much. I had plenty of friends in college who weren’t fans of the habit but didn’t stop them from from bumming a smoke when they drink.
I’ve never heard of her saying anything about not being a fan of the habit.
Anyway, you can view the photo I mentioned here: http://www.gotceleb.com/meghan-markle-in-bikini-in-positano-2016-08-23.html
Looks like she was with Jessica M – maybe she was taking a drag from her cigarette.
I hope that’s weed she’s smoking because cigs are nasty
Gad all actresses smoke to keep their weight down.
I think Harry made the “Not currently, no” comment as an attempted joke and sideswipe at those who insisted she must have trapped him with pregnancy to get him to marry her.
If getting pregnant is easy for her, then I would say a pregnancy announcement will happen by the fall.
Barring fertility problems, Meghan is petite, she will be showing very early in the pregnancy.
I think their are both ready for children.
A couple in their mid thirties wants to start trying for kids soon, what amazing insight Ms. Nicholl is providing here. 🙄
Isn’t she @Starryfish? That Nicolls lady is seriously is starting to annoy the heck out of me!
I think most suspect they will be pregnant within the first year of their marriage. Personally I think she will be pregnant by Euguenie’s wedding in October. Likely announce around then which is right before their big tour and the Invictus Games. Just my guess.
I hope they not feeling the pressure though. Let them enjoy being married but they both have made it no secret they want kids and they are older. So there is that.
I think part of the reason why she started living with Harry so early, and the almost unprecedented way in which she is being involved in royal events… Sandringham, Endurance, Royal Foundation, Commonwealth Day and the forthcoming CHOGM events in April, is so that she would have put quite a lot of engagements under her belt before she slows down and takes time off after marriage to have a baby, which could be soon. I am rather concerned about stories of a tour of Australia later in the year….she may need to take it easy.
I assumed they were getting married precisely to have children. Otherwise, they could just keep dating for years like Princess Beatrice and that guy that ultimately dumped her, or like W & K who also dated for quite a long time.
@Chaine, I honestly believe Harry wanted to get married while both his grand parents are still around. He is rumored to be very close with both HMTQ and Prince Phillip and I think their age was the strongest motivating factor than Meghan’s age and/or ability (or lack of) to conceive.
As someone whose currently seeing a fertility specialist and 30, I think the biggest issue when women wait to have children is they are given a much much shorter window to fix any issues they may have. Most women are ignorant of fertility issues until they actually try to be “fertile”. Costs also increase by a large margin the older the woman is. Many fertility clinics will offer a 70-100% refund at a special price if their procedures do not work. While yes, for some women, trying later in life is not an issue for others it is it does. Wait if you want, but get checked out before you decide to put it off for years. Make the decision to wait, freeze your eggs, or to start trying with your eyes wide open. Egg quality can and quantity will decrease as you age, Mother Nature is a bitch.
“The reason he wanted Meghan to meet Prince George and Princess Charlotte was so she could see that — this would be hopefully replicated by them, that they would go on to have children. That you marry into the royal family, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a regular family with cute children…”
What a load of nonsensical drivel. I know Harry is on the immature side but the way these royal commentators infantilize two grown people in their mid 30s is so eye-wateringly cringe-making. If Nicholls thought that such sickly, gag-making guff would generate coos of ‘Awww how sweet…’, she is sorely mistaken.
I think it will happen quick!
I had mine at 39 and 41. Tried for 5 years with the first. Turns out I had untreated endometriosis. Had laproscopy and was pregnant within 2 mos and surprised by my second.
Ladies experiencing difficulties, if you have suffered from dreadful periods please give attention to possibly having endo issues. I complained to docs since I was 20 that I had painful periods and they blew me off. My fertilily doc told me not to worry about that because IVF would bypass endo. Not true! Ironically, after we turned to adoption I met a wonderful lady in my group that told me to not stop trying to get answers and gave me the number to her endo surgeon. Had surgery in Oct, pregnant in December and 2 years later again. Totally unassisted by any fertility. Be your own advocate and make doctors listen to you!
Well said, and good advice homeslice.
i would say sooner than later man…. im 29 just got engaged and im already thinking year by 33 or 32 i kinda wanna try man…so im getting my weight down and eating healthier and doing more holistic stuff for my body to edge my bets so that when i want to i may have ahigher chance of not experiencing fertility stuff….
and before commentator police patrol bites my head off with “THATS AGEIST” its just being pragmatic and somewhat prepping for something you may want…
i send well wishes to harry and meghan
It is your life and your timetable. No one should judge it.
Getting healthy is a great idea. If you can get some yoga in and strengthen your back/core you will be eternally grateful at the 8th month mark. lol