NEWSMichelle Obama Blamed Herself When She Struggled to Get Pregnant Before She and Barack Welcomed Daughters Through IVF
Michelle Obama first revealed she suffered a miscarriage in her 2018 memoir, 'Becoming.'
Michelle Obama thought she ruined her dream of becoming a mother by not having children at a young age.
During a recent guest appearance on the Thursday, May 1, episode of Steven Bartlett's "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, the former first lady reflected on her infertility struggles years after revealing she had a miscarriage before welcoming her and husband Barack's daughters, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Michelle Obama welcomed daughters Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, through IVF.
"Imagine your life as you’re checking boxes: I'm waiting, I delayed having kids, I’ve found the love of my life, and now I’m gonna get pregnant. So you think it’s gonna be like a box, it’s gonna happen like that, and no one tells you that there really is a biological clock, that’s not false," explained Michelle, who was 29 years old when she married Barack in 1992.
"By the time we started really trying, which worked perfectly for our careers and maturing and having everything set... while we’re waiting for our lives to be perfect, that biological clock is ticking," she continued.
Michelle and Barack Obama welcomed their two kids after tying the knot in 1992.
Michelle admitted: "So when it happens to you, a box checker, somebody that thought life was gonna be so and so and you did all the right things to have things not work out, and to know that it was gonna be that way and nobody told you so that you be prepared for it, it just, it was a blow. And then as a woman, you’re walking around owning the blow as if it's your fault."
The 61-year-old first opened up about having a miscarriage and her IVF journey in her 2018 memoir, Becoming.
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Michelle Obama worried she waited too long to have children.
"We were trying to get pregnant and it wasn’t going well," she penned in the best-selling transcript. "We had one pregnancy test come back positive, which caused us both to forget every worry and swoon with joy, but a couple of weeks later I had a miscarriage, which left me physically uncomfortable and cratered any optimism we felt."
While promoting the memoir during a sit-down interview with Robin Roberts on ABC's Good Morning America at the time, Michelle recalled feeling like she "failed" because she was unaware of "how common miscarriages were" since women "don't talk about them" enough.
Michelle Obama said she blamed herself when experiencing infertility.
"We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we’re broken," she reflected. "That's one of the reasons why I think it's important to talk to young mothers about the fact that miscarriages happen and the biological clock is real because egg production is limited and I realized that as I was 34 and 35."
Michelle noted: "We had to do IVF. I think it's the worst thing that we do to each other as women — not share the truth about our bodies and how they work and how they don't work."
