Michelle Obama said she felt “lost and alone” after suffering a miscarriage 20 years ago, and underwent in IVF to conceive her two daughters.
In an interview aired on Good Morning America, she said she felt she “failed because I didn’t know how common miscarriages were because we don’t talk about them.”
Obama, 54, said she and former president Barack Obama “had to do IVF” to conceive Sasha and Malia, who are now 17 and 20.
In her memoir ‘Becoming’, to be published next week, the former lawyer writes about growing up in Chicago, confronting racism in public life and becoming the country’s first black First Lady.
She also reflects on early struggles in her marriage, as her husband 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.