Meghan Markle Reflects on Her Miscarriage and Learning ‘to Let Something Go’

Meghan Markle had a very honest discussion about miscarriage on the second episode of her new Confessions of a Female Founder podcast. Speaking with Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, Meghan offered some candid reflections from her personal journey. The Duchess of Sussex wrote about experiencing a pregnancy loss in 2020; she went on to welcome her and Prince Harry’s rainbow baby, Lilibet, in June 2021.

Saujani stepped away from Girls Who Code to focus on herself after having a series of miscarriages. Meghan gently invited Saujani to discuss that decision, saying, “I’ll bring this up if you’re comfortable talking about it because I know you’ve spoken publicly about as you’re doing Girls Who Code, all the interpersonal things that are happening for you at that time, and the miscarriages that you’ve experienced. I’ve spoken about the miscarriage that we experienced. And I think in some parallel way, when you have to learn to detach from the thing that you have so much promise and hope for, and to be able to be okay at a certain point to let something go, something go that you plan to love for a long time.”

Saujani told Meghan she felt very seen by that remark, saying, “I was going to say, I feel like you’re reading my diaries. That’s really insightful because I don’t think anyone’s seen it that way, said it that way for me. But that’s right because here I was for so many years, like trying to get pregnant, having miscarriages because I had autoimmune issues.”

The women discussed how brave it is to step back and focus on your health. Meghan especially called out “the courage that it takes for a female founder, the courage that it takes for a woman, when you’re on this path, you’re on this grind, you’ve set expectations. The courage that it takes to say, ‘I need help,’ or ‘I need to pause,’ is tremendous. And there is no way to continue to show up and role-model for these young women all the things that you aspire for them to have—that you wanted to have when you were a young girl—if you are not doing it with complete authenticity because you are so close to being burned out.”

You can listen to their full discussion here.