Dad-to-be Mark Zuckerberg shares something we don’t talk about enough
CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg jumped on Facebook yesterday to give us the BEST news- he and his wife Priscilla Chan are expecting a baby girl!
Zuckerberg gave us this sweet life update accompanied by the sweetest of pics (yes, we are also dying over their dog, Beast)…
And the sweetest of messages…
“This will be a new chapter in our lives. We’ve already been so fortunate for the opportunity to touch people’s lives around the world — Cilla as a doctor and educator, and me through this community and philanthropy. Now we’ll focus on making the world a better place for our child and the next generation.”
Then, his message took a turn for the serious as he explained just how rough it had been getting to this moment:
“We’ve been trying to have a child for a couple of years and have had three miscarriages along the way.
You feel so hopeful when you learn you’re going to have a child. You start imagining who they’ll become and dreaming of hopes for their future. You start making plans, and then they’re gone. It’s a lonely experience. Most people don’t discuss miscarriages because you worry your problems will distance you or reflect upon you — as if you’re defective or did something to cause this. So you struggle on your own.”
Zuckerberg then went on to explain how important it is to be transparent about this issue, how being open about the difficulties of trying to bring a child into this world doesn’t distance you from your community, but rather the opposite occurs, it allows your community to come together and be there for you.
“In today’s open and connected world, discussing these issues doesn’t distance us; it brings us together. It creates understanding and tolerance, and it gives us hope.
When we started talking to our friends, we realized how frequently this happened — that many people we knew had similar issues and that nearly all had healthy children after all.
We hope that sharing our experience will give more people the same hope we felt and will help more people feel comfortable sharing their stories as well.”
15-20% of confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage. Zuckerberg is right, there are so many people going through this experience, and we as a community need to create an environment in which people feel safe opening up about these experiences so that we can step up and be the best possible support system for the people we love who are going through a tough time.
We are so glad that Zuckerberg shared his story and that he’s stepping up and being a champion of being open about our struggles. There are so many people who are going through the same hardships we are experiencing, sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves is open up and let our community show us how loving and supportive it can be.
Related:
Carrying the weight of a miscarriage
I’ve had multiple miscarriages and I’m ready to talk about it
