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The former first lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama opens up about her miscarriage, the struggle to cope with it and going through IVF to conceive.
Michelle Obama, the former first lady of the United States of America is an inspiration to millions of women around the world. In an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor Robin Roberts, the former first lady reveals hitherto unknown challenges on her difficult journey to motherhood. Part of the interview was aired on Good Morning America where she revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage 20 years ago, which left her feeling “lost and alone.”
EXCLUSIVE: @MichelleObama to @RobinRoberts on suffering a miscarriage 20 years ago: “I felt lost and alone.” More coming up on @GMA and then watch the @ABC special covering her journey to motherhood and more from her memoir, “Becoming,” Sunday night 9/8c. https://t.co/LivWLBgeRA pic.twitter.com/gzIe8LTYC2 — Good Morning America (@GMA) November 9, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: @MichelleObama to @RobinRoberts on suffering a miscarriage 20 years ago: “I felt lost and alone.” More coming up on @GMA and then watch the @ABC special covering her journey to motherhood and more from her memoir, “Becoming,” Sunday night 9/8c. https://t.co/LivWLBgeRA pic.twitter.com/gzIe8LTYC2
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 9, 2018
Coping with a miscarriage can be very traumatic. Apart from the physical distress, the emotional agony takes a humongous toll on a woman and very often, the couple’s relationship. Michelle and Barack Obama’s marriage was no different and had hit rock bottom following the miscarriage. In fact, Michelle Obama also revealed that the couple had to seek marriage counseling to sort out the differences and save the relationship.
“Marriage counseling for us was one of those ways where we learned how to talk out our differences,” Michelle Obama says in the interview. “I know too many young couples who struggle and think that somehow there’s something wrong with them. And I want them to know that Michelle and Barack Obama, who have a phenomenal marriage and who love each other, we work on our marriage. And we get help with our marriage when we need it.”
Often it is seen that women who suffer a miscarriage are unable to to deal with the pain, which is worsened by the isolation that ensues as this is still a somewhat taboo topic. Michelle Obama aptly articulates the anguish when she says, “We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we’re broken.” In India, things get more complicated because more often than not it is the woman who is blamed for not being able to give the family a ‘family-heir’. Also, the additional pressure to try and conceive a child as soon as possible, further adds to the trauma.
Michelle Obama also spoke of how she and Barack Obama underwent fertilization treatments to conceive their daughters Sasha and Malia, now 17 and 20. “The biological clock is real … egg production is limited. I realised as I was 34 and 35, 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.”
These revelations come ahead of Tuesday’s release of Mrs. Obama’s memoir Becoming, where she talks about the fascinating journey her life has been, from the challenges of growing up as a African-American girl in Chicago to her momentous ascension as the country’s first black first lady.
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Paromita advises all women to become financially independent, keep levelling up and have realistic expectations from life and relationships.
Heartfelt, emotional, and imaginative, Paromita Bardoloi’s use of language is fluid and so dreamlike sometimes that some of her posts border on the narration of a fable.
Her words have the power to touch the reader while also delivering some hard hitting truths. Paromita has no pretences in her writing and uses simple words which convey a wealth of meaning in the tradition of oral storytellers – no wonder, Paro is a much loved author on Women’s Web.
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I watched a Tamil movie Kadaisi Vivasayi (The Last Farmer), recommended by my dad, on SonlyLiv, and many times over again since my first watch. If not for him, I’d have had no idea what I would have missed. What a piece of relevant and much needed art this movie is!
It is about an old farmer in a village (the only indigenous farmer left), who walks the path of trouble, quite unexpectedly, and tries to come out of it. I have tried my best to refrain from leaving spoilers, for I want the readers to certainly catch up on this masterpiece of director Manikandan (of Kakka Muttai fame).
The movie revolves around the farmer who goes about doing his everyday chores, sweeping his mud-house first thing in the morning, grazing the cows, etc and living a simple but contented life. He is happy doing his thing, until he invites trouble for himself out of the blue, primarily because he is illiterate and ignorant.