Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald today drew on her personal experience of miscarriage as she discussed the 'taboo' surrounding the subject in Ireland.
Minister Fitzgerald spoke candidly on the topic during an interview with the Irish Times, in which she said that it is coming to the fore more and more as couples wait longer to start their families.
“A lot of people are having miscarriages at an older age because they want to have babies at an older age, so it is more stressful. Then they think, ‘Am I going to get pregnant again?’” she said.
The Minister shared her belief that the availability of contraception led couples to think that a pregnancy can be easily planned, and that encountering fertility problems can often come as a shock due to a lack of discussion on the subject.
"First of all, there are fertility issues as you get older. Secondly, the fact is a lot of pregnancies end in miscarriage; there is a shock and disbelief for people...For me, I went on to have a second and a third pregnancy afterward, so you can recover from it," added the mother-of-three.
Would you agree that miscarriage is still a 'taboo' subject in Ireland? Do you think that more information and discussion on the issue is needed?
