In the summer of 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been in California for months, first they were staying at Tyler Perry’s LA home, and then they bought their home in Montecito. When they moved into the Montecito home, Meghan was pregnant. She miscarried the first morning they were at their Montecito home. Harry says, on camera in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan docuseries, that he believes that the Mail is directly responsible for Meghan’s miscarriage, because at that same time, the Mail was still fighting Meghan’s lawsuit about her letter to her father. She wasn’t sleeping, she was stressed because of the lawsuit and the Mail’s unhinged campaign against her.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry believe they suffered a miscarriage as a direct result of press intrusion into their lives. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the tragic claim during the second volume of their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, released Thursday.
Speaking to the camera, the couple’s lawyer Jenny Afia said that she was aware of the “toll it was taking” on Meghan to pursue legal action against Associated Newspapers in 2020, after the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline printed sections of a private letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle, following her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry
Afia added that Meghan was pregnant yet not sleeping as a result of the pressure she felt as the couple moved into their new home in Montecito, California.
“The first morning that we woke up in our new home is when I miscarried,” said Meghan.
“I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did,” added Harry. “I watched the whole thing. Now do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created caused by that? Of course, we don’t,” he added about the lack of scientific evidence of a causal link between the events. (But) Bearing in mind the stress that caused the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was, I can say from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her. I thought she was brave and courageous, but that doesn’t surprise me because she is brave and courageous.”
Harry’s not wrong – the stress of Meghan’s lawsuit against the Mail was likely a huge factor. I’d also remind everyone that it was cumulative stress from dealing with the insane onslaught at that time, the summer of 2020, where there were daily stories from panicked British tabloids about how they could somehow get Harry to “come back.” There were regularly royal commentators talking about how Harry needed to leave Meghan and come back “home,” but not only that – they were saying sh-t like “the only way Harry comes back is if Meghan is dead.” They ALL knew what they were doing.
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
Plus 1 H, plus 1.
(oh and KP/RF)
I’m still bliddy angry, upset and furious about that revelation. I went straight onto Richard Palmer’s feed and let him know how despicable his rag is. What’s interesting is so far I’ve not seen a single royal “expert” on my feed. Not ONE. They know they have blood on their hands. First suicide ideation then this. I don’t care what they say because no amount of spin can save them from this one. If any of you so called “experts” and “sources” are reading this: SHAME ON YOU.
I use to thing of them and wonder how can they handle all that abuse, I don’t know if I could.
I absolutely believe that the Fail cause Meghan’s miscarriage and that contributions from Harry’s family and Meghan’s father contributed to it too. Enduring that kind of abuse in such a state is just another cruelty that they suffered. I remember reading some critic says that the article that Meghan wrote was just too much and so overwrought. I couldn’t believe the cruelty of that statement and wouldn’t be surprised if Meghan had seen that nastiness too.
Any pregnancy of Meghan’s was going to be high risk (as they touched on when talking about Archie’s birth), and I’m with Harry on this one, but I’d go further. It wasn’t JUST the Fail, it was the cumulative abuse from every quarter, the brutal betrayal of the Windsors, and yes the stress of litigation over something so traumatic as the public loss of her father because of the media and his grifting. Add to that the imperative of finding a home, making a living, and MOVING. My god. It’s a miracle they were able to create Lili so quickly.
Back when Meghan was pregnant with Archie and the tide turned on her after the Australian tour, so many Celebitchies were claiming the press (and institution) were trying to make her miscarry. I didn’t say it at the time, but I thought that analysis was extreme. I was like, how could these stupid headlines cause her to miscarry? But watching the doc, and hearing about how much stress she was under with her next pregnancy, how she had been struggling already with depression and now was fighting the Mail on all fronts and not sleeping, I totally get it. And I honor Celebitchies for seeing it and calling it out so clearly immediately. That part of the doc truly broke my heart and I cried along with her friend Abigail Spencer from Suits.
The BM are disgusting!!! And I also read this, which somes up these reporters fake outrage perfectly.. ‘Once again, it’s absolutely ridiculous for royal corespondents who are the focus of Harry and Meghans criticism to be providing the coverage of Harry and Megans criticism of royal correspondents. Like asking the accused to provide objective coverage of their own trial.’ They need to STFU and find a new business model.
Heartbreaking and probably very true. I feel like at that point they were probably just so emotionally beaten down. Like what did the british press want from them? They had left, they weren’t taking public money, they weren’t getting public protection, they weren’t using HRH….
it really does seem like the only way it will end, at this point, is for Meghan to die, and then the press can profit off that for decades like they do with Diana. And that’s an incredibly disturbing and depressing thought.
So yeah, I can see how the stress impacted her pregnancy. Stress seems too mild a word for it to be honest.
Trauma is the word.
It’s clear that H&M are a perfect match and incredibly in love, so that gives their relationship lifelong longevity. At the same time, they are also trauma-bonded. Because what they have endured is traumatic and no one else will ever understand that experience other than them.
Agreed. It’s a good thing that Harry was the one to say it too. The people saying they should have just moved on and not done this documentary or crying ‘richpipoprobz’ really need to reflect on exactly what Meghan and Harry went through.
No doubt about it. The Palace would have been happy if Meghan had died in 2020. Let’s hope the Palace will stop briefing about Harry coming back and leaving his wife and children.
I think so too, I truly believe that Diana”s death was a relief to the Palace, one less problem SMH
The Queen Mother actually said it – unfortunately so long ago I can’t remember the source. 🙁
convenient, wasn’t it?! I have believed they had a hand in it since 1997 (when it happened). I used to get mocked as a conspiracy theorist over this… until the truth came out about how Harry and Meghan were treated. the leaking of their whereabouts. the pulling of their security. the extremely sus nursery fire in S Africa…
the historical precedent.
they can’t throw anyone in the Tower these days… but accidents will happen!
He’s never coming back. First his mother & now his child. They’ve taken too much from him. He’ll never return to being their whipping boy. Need to kill that narrative with fire.
I had the same thought. He is never, ever, ever going back, no matter what.
You don’t have to be a freaking doctor to know that stressful conditions can make a woman have a miscarriage. The Mail has blood on their hands in my book.
Yeah I’m surprised that someone would say there’s no link between stress and miscarriage. Stress and by extension, depression and anxiety it causes can absolutely increase the risk of preterm labor, intrauterine fetal demise, low birth weight developmental disorders. It’s even been linked to behavioral changes in children. So stress has a link to what happens to pregnancy and fetus. I say this as someone in the mental health field who see peripartum women regularly. That’s why we emphasize that the risks associated with treatment are much less than the risks associated with no treatment. Mental health conditions, substance use, social stressors including homelessness, domestic violence, etc. are all risk factors for fetal and maternal mortality. Add in other risks factors such as advanced maternal age and the stress may have contributed. That’s not to say we can prove it. I haven’t watched yet but not sure they specified what trimester she was in. It’s infuriating to see this and have people already deny it.
It’s so shocking to see anyone deny it could be a possibility. Not enough money or funding is put into women’s heath studies.
My own expetience with miscarriage was a very stressful job I held for almost 10 years. I had 4 miscarriages and all the testing my husband and I did showed no reason for it.
We thought for sure it was the stress. I quit my job and with-in months was pregnant and carried my now son.
It’s Mayo and NHS, etc saying it. I totally believe in the connection though. I was 10 weeks along in my second pregnancy when I got a call in the middle of the night saying my beloved dad had died of a heart attack. No warning. I miscarried soon after (at 12 weeks) but they put fetal death at 10 weeks. I know it my bones it was shock, stress and trauma. I can believe the stress Meghan was under here caused it.
There needs to be more research but there have been suggested links by studies done at Tufts. CRH, a hormone released during stress also triggers uterine contractions. Stress, at the least, is a risk factor for miscarriage.
Harry peripherally called out Kensington Palace due to Jason Knauf’s (the only worker accused by name) involvement in the DF trial, but other than a few accusations, the RF and the people who work for them have been shielded from criticism. It’s beyond concerning that the media is allowed to function like that in the UK to the extent that Meghan miscarried.
Stress is a huge contributor to miscarriages. Does ever stressed woman miscarry? No.
But does a woman who had to flee from a country she adopted as her own with her young child and husband, have their secret location revealed to the press who publish it for the world to see, while under going a level of character assassination from the press world wide which many have said is akin to terrorism, while fearing for all of their lives and futures DURING A GOBAL PANDEMIC …. I mean. Yeah. That’s a different level of stress. That’s just constant trauma.
I don’t believe her miscarriage was stress related. There is zero scientific evidence that stress can be related to miscarriages. If it was there would hardly be any full term births at all. It’s sad and tragic when it happens but it was more likely her age or nature being what it is, correcting something that wasn’t quite right. Miscarriages are still a loss, however, and you can’t ever minimize the sorrow. It is human nature to look for a cause, though.
Agree.
Surely most of you have some contact and understanding about (illegal) immigrants and asylum seekers?!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5706483/
That article goes into detail about armed conflict and pregnancy, but any gynecologist or midwife will tell you the same. Stress is not good and can be a cause of pregnancy complications including miscarriage.
Immigrants and asylum-seekers? I suppose technically speaking but… they had every material comfort and luxury available to them along the way. The place they stayed on Vancouver island for example is a multi-million dollar estate.
I specified MATERIAL comfort and luxury because I do believe Meghan was under extreme stress during this time, and I believe (personally) that stress can absolutely contribute to a miscarriage. But I wouldn’t go as far as to liken her experience the universal experience of refugees.
I’d like to add also that if Harry (and Meghan I will assume) feel that this level of stress put upon her caused her to miscarry, then it’s really nobody else’s place to say that well, actually, it didn’t. A miscarriage is an extremely personal thing, and it’s hurtful and presumptuous to try and correct them on this. Imo only
Linder, this is untrue. Stress can absolutely contribute to miscarriages. It’s not the only factor and is not be the reason for all miscarriages, but it is absolutely a factor!
Thanks for discounting Harry’s feelings. Way to be empathetic.
Everyone’s entitled to their belief but Meghan and Harry😲
People also have beliefs about Covid.
Please let us know where you completed an OBGYN fellowship to make such a statement and have it regarded as accurate.
Anna – THANK YOU!!!
Linder – you are embarrassing. As a doctor having worked in OBYGN for years, I can attest to stress increasing mom and bub morbidity and mortality.
Actually, there was a study at Tufts that indicated a link involving CRH. So, yeah, more than “zero scientific evidence”. Did you attempt research yourself before posting? Or is that just your opinion?
There is evidence that stress can affect pregnancy in a myriad of ways, including increasing risk of complications and pregnancy loss.
You don’t have to believe it. But based on Harry’s account of how many weeks in Meghan was and all that she had to endure, stress absolutely could’ve been a contributing factor. I’ve heard personal stories of pregnant women who work stressful jobs who later wonder if their work was responsible for subsequent miscarriages. They won’t ever know, but they always wonder. What research has shown is that whatever your mind and bodies are going through has a direct effect on your growing baby; see babies born during wartime and prolonged blizzards etc.
Yup. A friend and old coworker of mine had to go on maternity leave early because she was under so much stress at work she dilating and her blood pressure was so high her doctor thought she would go into early labor. Stress absolutely plays a part. As does trauma. That is not a slight to women who have had miscarriages or to blame them. We often have no control over the stress in our lives or how our bodies respond to it.
It doesn’t matter what you believe, there’s evidence that says otherwise.
I also believe that mental illness and health and made up issues in ppl’s head and do not physically impact any parts or ppls lives at all. I also believe in santa clause and the tooth fairy while I’m at it /s.
Any other ghoulish thoughts u like to share?
Thanks for this comment. OP is obtuse and unfeeling. Stress can absolutely cause a miscarriage. I will definitely tell my medical friends that some poster on a site said that this isn’t true.
Also let’s not forget people were also claiming Archie wasn’t real and Meghan was never pregnant. This mess got worse when Angela Levin went in on this crap too.
Don’t “well, actually” here. Just don’t. You’re trolling. You’re also causing anguish to a lot of people here who have suffered through painful pregancy losses.
Back to the Daily Mail with you. Your take is appalling.
Then explain why the 100% scientific evidence that Black American women are several times more likely to suffer pregnancy complications, pregnancy loss, and death after giving birth than white women is explained by racism.
What do you think racism is? What do you think it looks like? It’s STRESS.
Overworking because of low pay
Overworking to keep a job
Enduring poor working conditions (low pay, suffering microaggressions in crap jobs, suffering microaggressions in good jobs)
Mistreatment by medical providers
Miss ME AND ALL OF US with this faux-objective comment. The body keeps the score. And that has been proven. So YAH: the STRESS from the Daily Mail case caused Meghan to miscarry.
I am so sick of people disguising their antipathy towards Meghan as “objectivity”. Go comment on a Daily Mail article! Go to The Telegraph, The Sun! Get the bleep out!! Here in the Celebitchy comments section we see celebrities as complex human beings.
GO!
@Linder – some recent research:
Researchers have long known that during times of stress, the brain releases several hormones — including one called corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). In past research, women who deliver prematurely or have low-birth-weight babies were often found to have high levels of CRH in their bloodstream, and other studies show a greater risk of miscarriage in women reporting stress. CRH is a hormone the brain secretes in reaction to physical or emotional stress, and it is also produced in the placenta and the uterus of a pregnant woman to trigger uterine contractions during delivery.
But this new research suggests that CRH and other stress hormones may also be released elsewhere in the body, where it specifically targets localized mast cells — those best known for causing allergic reactions. Mast cells are abundant in the uterus. During stress and emotional trauma, the local release of CRH causes these mast cells to secrete substances that can cause miscarriages.
Yes, also cortisol. High levels of cortisol sustained longer are detrimental for more than one system in the body. It is a very harmful situation.
Stop presenting your uninformed opinion as fact (“zero scientific evidence”). It’s dishonest, wrong, and gross, given the context here. Take your gaslighting and cruelty back to Dlisted, the Daily Fail, or wherever you usually get your daily M&H hate fix.
I’ve had 6 miscarriages in 5 years, all early losses. I’ve worked with 5 different ObGyns, including a maternal fetal medicine specialist, and have been receiving treatment for infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss from a reputable fertility clinic. I see the head of the clinic, and I’ve been seeing their on-staff psychologists as well for mental health assistance. I can see both view points here. I will tell you, that my providers and psychologists have emphasized repeatedly that miscarriages aren’t the result of stress/anxiety/depression/that run I took/that glass of wine I drank. I wish that someone would tell me it was, honestly, because no one can give me an answer as to why they keep happening and consequently, no solution. I sometimes wonder if it’s just a reassurance mechanism, so that those of us who are already suffering immensely don’t blame ourselves. I’m so sad that Meghan and Harry experienced a miscarriage. I don’t discount her experience and what they think happened. It’s her body, she knows it best after all. I am so glad for them that they were able to conceive and have a healthy baby after their loss. I’m hopeful that will happen for me one day.
I am so sorry you’re going through so much personal trauma but I also admire your courage and resilience. I will pray that your dream comes true soon!
You are of course right, it is a very complicated mechanism, the woman’s body and there are myriad of factors that can impact a pregnancy, both physical and psychological. With stress, it’s mostly the released stress hormones which are dangerous when a high level is sustained for longer, like cortisol. It’s better to not have those much during pregnancy.
Seriously you are going to malign a mother and father who lost their child? They lived the stress and hate campaign. They were the ones fearing for their lives and the life of their child(children). She was a geriatric pregnancy with for all of her pregnancies and you have no idea the complications stress caused her or what her doctor told them but somehow others think they are experts and know it couldn’t have been stress. You are using the same logic as the fail with no basis in fact or without doing any research. Pregnancy and childbirth isn’t some easy breezy event for most women and stress affects every part of the body and mind. Harry and Meghan have very valid reasons for saying what they said and I’m so sick of people picking them apart. Do better, have some empathy.
Her age? Really? Maybe the stress wasn’t the main factor, but it’s a factor. Everyday stress can cause issues and that’s why I ended up on bed rest for one pregnancy because I was just stressed. My Mom had moved in without asking and was driving me nuts, plus trying to wrap things up so I could go out, lots of stress. I started having contractions at work, they gave me a car and I went straight to my Drs where I was put on bed rest and told to let everyone in the house handle stuff, I should just stay in bed, listen to music, read, watch TV anything but get up and start doing things.
I personally know two people who had miscarriages as a result of extreme stress and in one case when they changed jobs they were able to successfully carry through a pregnancy.
And the doctors did say stress was a factor along with advanced age, which is what Meghan was dealing with.
JFC, I just got a dedicated People magazine “Breaking News!” email alert about this exact story
I generally agree with Harry and Meghan but this is a dangerous narrative — especially as women in the US risk losing reproductive rights. If we say someone can cause a miscarriage then we can also blame women for their miscarriages.
Huh?
I just wrote a similar comment and I agree. I’m sad that this is the way the pregnancy loss is being framed given that it’s an opportunity to discuss something that happens to so many people to such a wide audience. I haven’t watched yet but my heart sank when I saw this headline.
They are not trying to frame pregnancy loss in general, but in particular to their very specific circumstances. I think ever person who has suffered a miscarriage has a right to ponder what went wrong. Between my two kids, I had a miscarriage at 9 weeks that I initially attributed to not knowing I was pregnant and carrying my son/social drinking/living life believing I was not. I later realized that it was common and early, that statistically it was a normal period for spontaneous abortion. I wasn’t ready for a second so soon so there was relief but also guilt; I can only imagine the mental trauma one must feel if the pregnancy was very much wanted. No one knows nor can they dictate the state of mind of a person and their loss.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Women are already being blamed for their own miscarriages and threatened with prosecution in some states, H & M aren’t contributing to that flame.
Is this concerned trolling pls tell me this is concerned trolling?
Concern trolling would be talking about her weight or an eating disorder . This is just a bad take .
concern trolling is saying “I wish they’d stop talking because they get so much flack for it” when really they mean “I wish they would shut up already.”
this is straight up victim blaming.
Hi. Women have gone to jail because they took drugs while pregnant. And yes in the U.S. right now they are legitimately trying to get women jailed in some states for things just like this. This isn’t on Harry and Meghan. What a mess some of you are.
A miscarriage is a spontaneous abortion. Or can be classified as an inevitable abortion. Those are the medical terms.
So let me reword this so I can try to understand your completely genuine concern for American women’s reproductive rights:
“It’s dangerous to say that negative environmental and social factors can cause a woman to abort because women may then be held responsible for their abortions. Women being responsible for their abortions is bad for their reproductive rights.”
Is that what you’re saying?
Or do you hate Meghan so much you don’t realize you’re doing the exact opposite of what you think you’re doing?
I can’t comment nicely bc this boils my blood ok. Incandescent does not describe the fury. We love you Meghan and Harry.
Stress has no many different impacts on different people. I went through a very stressful period for a period of time in which my monthly cycle just went haywire. My therapist explained that the body, my body, could not handle the demands of a fetus/baby growing inside me while having to also deal with the stress and so accordingly, my cycle changed to ensure it would not happen. I believe the same held true for Meghan and so the body sacrificed the baby.
Thank you for sharing, Seraphina. What you wrote also aligns with the fact that fewer children are born during wartime and other stressful periods of life (pandemic baby boom, anyone? The world thinks not). Stress and it’s accompanying hormones are very real: it’s a survival mechanism and works in ways that we don’t fully understand.
Yes, the ceased cycle is quite common in high level stress in women and the living proof that stress has direct impact on the reproductive system.
Yes thanks. It is idiotic to say that stress can’t be a factor in a miscarriage when stress definitely impacts a menstrual cycle when it is severe enough.
Of course every woman has a different tolerance level but pretending stress just bounces off a body is utter bs. And medically false.
Megan’s NYT op ed was so incredibly important to me after I had my own pregnancy loss, but I do feel some disappointment that this is the narrative around the miscarriage now. It’s estimated that 70-80% of miscarriages are caused by chromosomal issues (i.e., the embryo was never compatible with life in the first place). Most miscarriages are entirely out of the woman’s control and are not caused by external factors. It’s terrible that Meghan had to go through this abuse during her pregnancy, but I think it’s harmful to perpetuate the narrative that it is stress that causes miscarriages. It can be a way to enforce the stereotype that women cause their own pregnancy losses and implicitly blame them for their own tragedies. I wanted to gently flag given that this is something that so many women go through.
I agree, this is a slippery slope. This can just as easily be twisted into a narrative that a woman is so emotionally weak, fragile, immature ….she brought it on herself. Leave the medical pronouncements to treating physicians.
Umm…Meghan saying the stress that caused her to become suicidal likely contributed to her miscarriage is now going to start a slippery slope of narrative that women are weak and cause their own miscarriages??? How does that even make sense? Saying the abuse you received led to a physical reaction is now incorrect and perpetuating falsehoods? Or now everything Meghan and Harry day has some bearing on women and people worldwide and not just about themselves as individuals? Why must we carry over their lived in experiences into a global narrative? Why can’t we just let them say and feel and believe and leave it there? So exhausting.
Is it really implying that women are weak and immature, or is it just acknowledging the fact that stress and emotional abuse can effect people physically?
There’s a reason the hate and pressure was ramped up after Meghan first became pregnant. They wanted her to have a miscarrage. Furthermore why are you attacking Meghan for what Harry said? We see you.
I am not attacking anyone. I am expressing my own experience with pregnancy loss and the strength and comfort that I found in Meghan’s words in the New York Times, and also my concern that the narrative that stress causes miscarriages can be harmful for women who find ways to blame themselves for their pregnancy losses. Perhaps try to use a bit of kindness for other people on the internet. Like Meghan, we are real people who have also experienced loss.
I can sort of understand the two, I think, posters on here who are saying stress as a believed or cited cause lays the ‘blame’ on women and could possibly make them feel like personal failures for losing a pregnancy. However, I think this point needs to be stretched out, otherwise it doesn’t complete the circle of blame. Surely the conversation starts with, a woman believes stress caused her miscarriage. There is no shame in this because the woman didn’t manifest the stress, it was caused by outside forces and her only responsibility in the matter was her lack of responsibility for these factors. My sister’s pregnancy was blighted by workplace stress, which affected her non pregnant colleagues, as well. Having never had blood pressure problems, her blood pressure readings were consistently and dangerously high. As would seem obvious, her doctor asked what was going on in her life, and was there anything particularly “stressful”. Why would a clinician ask about stress if it weren’t a recognised cause of blood pressure issues at any point in life and dangerously so in pregnancy? My sister did kind of blame herself for being a workplace weakling, but eventually stood aside and blamed her employers. Rightly so.
Meghan’s conversation around this matter might have helped my sister shift the blame quicker. A more nuanced understanding about women’s ability to internalise stress is always helpful. Bringing it out in the open shifts the conversation to workplace standards, financial assistance, even family relationships. And in this case, press intrusion and lies. My sister managed to make her pregnancy full term. But if her husband had blamed it on her workplace, no one would’ve been surprised, inc her colleagues and in fact her hateful employer.
Yall are being ridiculous. They flat out said they can’t prove it but believe it. She was stressed to the max, not sleeping, and probably not eating well. She was constantly having to work with her attorneys on this crap. Stop it.
A number of things can be true:
–that most miscarriages are caused by chromosomal/genetic defects
–that external factors (like extreme stress) can cause miscarriages or preterm birth
–that the narrative that stress can cause miscarriages puts undue pressure on women when they are very vulnerable (eg, was having family problems myself when pregnant and people would be like “don’t cry! stress is bad for the baby!” as if I could help having an emotional reaction to shitty family?)
My conclusion is that Meghan’s pregnancy was probably already at risk or high risk for genetic reasons but the stress/trauma of her life was what pushed it over into a miscarriage. You can’t separate people’s health from their external environment, while acknowledging that we have different bodies (immune systems, inflammatory issues, heart issues, whatever) that inherently put people at more or less risk of health complications.
Anyway: both/and
Thank you for your balanced approach, esp on some of the science. I think shifting the stress blame from women to their environment is key, and that not talking about stress in case it makes women feel guilty is eventually counterproductive. Meghan’s pregnancy was perhaps compromised. Who knows. It’s hard to know because of the stage she’d reached and scans etc. If Harry lays the blame at the door of the DM I suspect the pregnancy had reached a certain stage and was clinically OK. And that therefore Harry’s blaming of the DM was made in the knowledge that they had a healthy pregnancy until a whole load of stress was dumped on them.
I am so sorry you experienced pregnancy loss, and I understand your fear of the ‘slippery slope’ but this fear of the ‘slippery slope’ is a big reason why Roe was overturned. I think a lot of people writing are coming from a place of genuine concern; some people are just Meghan haters. But the fear of the ‘slippery slope’ is real beyond these comments so I want to break this down clearly:
A woman’s choices on what she wants to do with and within her own body, how she treats her body, sometimes have positive impacts on her body, negative impacts on her body, or no impact at all. This is agency. Some women’s choices are limited, some women’s choices are limitless, some women’s choices are painfully few. So not all women have the same level of agency.
The assertion that women have agency over their bodies is not the fuel which will lead to women having no agency over their bodies. It’s the assertion that women don’t have agency over their bodies will lead to policy stripping women of agency over their bodies. Do you get it?
‘Miscarriage’ connotes a wanted pregnancy, but I’m speaking about all pregnancies (wanted, unwanted, etc.): ” Most miscarriages are entirely out of the woman’s control” or “Doctors say there is little-to-no evidence stress directly causes miscarriages” are the harmful statements, not Harry’s description what he observed. Because it implies that regardless of what decisions she chooses or is forced to make, those decisions have no impact on whether or not a woman miscarries.
So in January 2014, 23 year-old Verizon warehouse worker who was denied multiple requests for light duty miscarries in her second trimester while working. That miscarriage was inevitable? Three other women in the same warehouse, doing the same job, all denied light duty also miscarried in 2014. All those miscarriages were inevitable? Entirely out of their control?
Do you see how asserting that what women choose to do or are forced to choose to do has no impact on whether they miscarry is the ‘slippery slope’ and not asserting that their choices *do* have an impact? Because if their choices do have an impact, it means their circumstances have an impact, their environment has an impact, their socioeconomic status has an impact. Because their choices are made limited or limitless depending on those factors.
I hope this helps people understand why we’re pushing back hard against the arguments that Harry is making spurious claims about Meghan’s miscarriage.
She’s talking about herself and she’s allowed to say something about her own personal circumstance without everyone trying to whitewash it into everyone’s circumstance. That’s a problem I noticed people have, you can’t talk about something you felt , negative or positive without someone chiming in to say “well this isn’t my story so it isn’t anyone’s story” or just objecting to the way one tells their story. It’s not cool.
She also said that because of her advanced maternal age something like extreme stress could cause a miscarriage.
Women have miscarriages following car accidents too… are we going to pretend that was just a random genetic disorder?
There are myriad of reasons why miscarriages can happen and extreme stress is one of them.
Do you woke up today and decided this was the hot take you wanted to present. This is monstrous and you should be ashamed.
Hi Anonymous. I read your post with interest. I have written a post that widens the point you started at and brings it full circle to why I think Meghan and Harry are at no fault for believing the DM caused their miscarriage. I wasn’t surprised they felt it right to lay it at the DM’s door and felt similarly at the time they announced their miscarriage. I think you and I reached different conclusions but with a similar foundation. Different views do not cancel out sadness, be it yours or M&H’s, and I am so sorry for your loss.
What is it about Harry’s statement that some people don’t understand?
“I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did,” Harry said. “I watched the whole thing. Now do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created caused by that? Of course, we don’t.”
That’s his belief. That’s how traumatic it was for both of them to experience what they did. The pain was so real and heavy that it seems logical to them that it may have contributed to Meghan’s miscarriage. He’s not offering a scientific hypothesis. Those who are dismissing his statement, or whining that it might add to unhelpful narratives about women and pregnancy, are being willfully and harmfully obtuse.
Thank you. I love these same people are like tell your truth, but then went, not that way.
There is no doubt accumulated stress would cause a miscarriage. The stress was caused by the media and the royal family briefing the media. Also, I believe they moved four times in about twelve months-Kensington to Frogmore (while pregnant with Archie), Frogmore to Victoria, Victoria to Tyler Perry’s house, and finally to their own home. Now, will the DF retaliate to Harry’s statement?
@Tasmin. Excellent points, I’d forgotten about the number of times they moved in that short time span. They were fleeing for their lives with that final move after the BM reported that their security had been removed and leaked their location.
To the naysayers – Why are their feelings constantly attacked, diminished or outright dismissed? Why are you so quick to engage in the same tactics used by the BM, RF, and the anti-Sussex brigade? Would you say those same things to someone you know who had a miscarriage and felt it was stress related?
Some of these comments are truly disturbing…
I’ve been on their site a couple of times today. It’s full of all sorts of articles about the series but, (at the time of writing) absolutely nothing about Harry holding them responsible for the miscarriage. In fact they don’t even mention it.
Naysayers, miss us. Like it’s cool.
I worry if there are ppl unhinged enough out there to think that even after all this, that if Meghan would die that Harry could just move back with the kids to the RF and marry a proper English girl and make everything alright again. I hope H&M have that in mind with regards to security. I don’t see the threats ever being over for them.
Bower is deluded enough to want harry to be third wheel again
Unhinged ???
There are people who want him to be as defined by the incompetent and sick media…
They are not interested in his personsl responsibilities and/or duty to the welfare of his immediate family.
The joy that he feels being fulfilled and validated in this relationship is of no consequence to them
His children’s mental health, safety and security and happiness is of no concern to them
In their eyes, Harry’s duty is to be an adequate distraction and fulfill their “shagging” and other fantasies.
That is simply vile and selfish.
This would’ve been Meghan’s second pregnancy that had too much press intrusion with the fail’s lawsuit leaning towards the breaking point .
Yes, without a doubt, they created a environment that culminated in a miscarriage.
And water is wet.
Stress cause so much damage even if you are not pregnant there scientific evidence of what stress can do to our bodies. Instead of listening to what Harry is saying people want to try so hard to nitpick his words to try to prove what they are saying is untrue . If Harry and Meghan felt that the stress of the lawsuit cause Meghan harm cause her to miscarriage then that should be the ended of . Instead you always have a bunch of clowns who come on here with their nonsense trying to twisted Meghan words or do some sort of mental gymnastics to try to prove what exactly.Go back to fail and dlist where you be already like minded people who are racist.
I say this as a woman in her late thirties, MM’s age was probably the primary factor, though I’m sure stress did not help. My heart goes out to them. Pregnancy loss is terrible.
I’ve known many women in their 20s and 30s who miscarried, often several times. My mother had 2 miscarriages in her 20s. My best friend had multiple miscarriages in her early 30s due to undiagnosed gestational diabetes. I’ve also known women in their late 40s who had healthy, full-term pregnancies. If a woman Meghan’s age is healthy, eats well, exercises, and doesn’t have untenable amounts of stress, fear, worry, plus the physical pressure of several inter-continental moves heaped on her, she can carry successfully. Meghan’s miscarriage was a perfect storm of dangerous circumstances.
Age is a well known and definitive risk factor in pregnancy, that’s a scientific fact and no anecdotal “evidence” changes it. So is that stress released hormones have significant negative impact when sustained for longer as in Meghan’s case. This doesn’t negate the fact that her age was definitely a risk factor. And no diet, exercise or breathing technique can erase that risk. Both age and stress hormones are risk factors.
It’s beyond callousness and cruelty. If anything happens to Meghan, somebody should go after Pricks Moron and his ilk. Why can’t we get coordinated like the haters and give these callous people a taste of their own medicine, let them experience what they’ve been putting Meghan through???
Wasn’t there a brief window when Piers Moron stepped back and said he was sorry for his obsessions and wanted to be more positive in articles he wrote. This coincided or followed the news of Meghan’s miscarriage. I thought at the time that it was a tacit understanding of the tabloids’ role in causing M great sadness and stress. I stand to be corrected. I am always in such a rush with WFH. I can’t even post article links properly!