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Michelle Obama tells of pain of miscarriage

The former first lady she felt like she had ‘failed’.

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Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama has said she felt “lost and alone” after suffering a miscarriage 20 years ago and underwent IVF to conceive her two daughters.

She told ABC in an interview aired on Good Morning America that she felt like she had “failed because I didn’t know how common miscarriages were, because we don’t talk about them”.

Mrs Obama, 54, said she and former president Barack Obama “had to do IVF” to conceive Sasha and Malia, now aged 17 and 20.

In her memoir Becoming, set to come out on Tuesday, the former first lady writes openly about everything from growing up in Chicago to confronting racism in public life and becoming the country’s first black first lady.

She also reflects on early struggles in her marriage as Mr Obama began his political career.

Speaking about her miscarriage, she said:” We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we’re broken.

“I realised that as I was 34 and 35, we had to do IVF.”

Last month, she launched a programme to help empower girls worldwide through education.

The Global Girls Alliance aims to support more than 1,500 grassroots organisations combating the challenges girls encounter in their communities.

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