The internet is abuzz today with the news that the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle suffered a miscarriage. The Duchess of Sussex reflected on the personal experience and the silent suffering we have all experienced during 2020 in an essay titled, The Loss We Share.
In the opinion piece for the New York Times, Meghan Markle gets extremely personal as she opens up about losing her second child. The Duchess begins her essay by stating it was a day just like any other until she felt, “a sharp cramp” as she fell to the ground all while holding her one-year-old son, Archie. Meghan then reveals, “I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.”
In the heartfelt and profoundly personal essay which was released Wednesday, Meghan speaks on the hardship of losing her second child in relation to a tough year. A year further complicated by an election, racial tensions, protests and a deadly pandemic. The Duchess even mentions Breonna Taylor in her letter. The Duchess also sheds light on a tough year where many, like her, have grieved in private as the COVID-19 pandemic storms throughout the United States, “This year has brought so many of us to our breaking points” she wrote. “Loss and pain have plagued every one of us in 2020, in moments both fraught and debilitating”.”
Meghan reveals that a few hours after feeling that sharp pain, she found herself laying in a hospital bed with her husband, Prince Harry by her side. The Duchess lays out the scene, ” 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.”
She then recalls a powerful moment she experienced while on official Royal duties touring South Africa. After the long tour, the Duchess explains that she felt drained from not only touring but doing so shortly after giving birth. She explains that a journalist made in an impact on her when he simply asked if she was ok. Meghan writes, “Are you OK?†a journalist asked me. I answered him honestly, not knowing that what I said would resonate with so many.” Her response resonated with mothers, young and old from around the world, and with many who as she explained, “in their own way, had been silently suffering.” She writes to readers that the question itself was the most impactful part of the interview as no one had asked her if she was actually ok.
For the most part, Meghan Markle’s essay is being received positively online. The essay is resonating with women who share in Meghan Markle’s experience.
Some parents are taking to Twitter to also share and open up about their experiences with loss.
Twitter is praising the Duchess of Sussex for opening up about something so extremely personal and shedding light on a subject that often seems taboo to discuss.
The Duchess of Sussex culminates her essay as she reflects on whether we are all ok. Meghan Markle challenges readers to ask each other if we are ok, “So this Thanksgiving, as we plan for a holiday unlike any before — many of us separated from our loved ones, alone, sick, scared, divided and perhaps struggling to find something, anything, to be grateful for — let us commit to asking others, “Are you OK?â€
To read the full essay click HERE.