Meghan Markle revealed her miscarriage in July in a New York Times op-ed (opens in new tab) centered on the importance of asking others, "Are you OK?" Meghan wrote about the "almost unbearable grief" she experienced after losing her second child with Prince Harry and the general stigma surrounding miscarriage.

The Duchess of Sussex wrote that she felt "sharp cramps" one morning in July while holding her son Archie. She recalls, "I fell to the floor with my son in my arms and hummed a lullaby to calm them both, the cheerful tune contrasting with my sense that something was wrong." 'As I held my first child in my arms, I knew I was losing my second. [A few hours later, I was lying in my hospital bed, holding my husband's hand. I felt the sting of my husband's palm and kissed the joints of his fingers, both of us wet with tears. My eyes were slack as I stared at the cold white walls. I tried to imagine how we would heal."

Megan reflected on a 2019 interview with journalist Tom Bradby that took place during the Sussex couple's tour of southern Africa." It was conducted when she was "exhausted," breastfeeding Archie, and "trying to keep a very public and brave face. Bradby asked, "Are you okay?" Megan asked, to which he candidly replied, "I'm fine. Megan replied candidly. "Thanks for asking." Not many people ask me if I'm okay."

"As I sat in my hospital bed and watched my heart break as my husband tried to hug my shattered pieces, I realized that the only way to begin the healing process was to first ask, "Are you okay?" she writes, "I realized that the only way to begin to heal is to ask, 'Are you okay?'

"Losing a child is an almost unbearable grief that many people experience, but few talk about," said Meghan, referring to the stigma attached to miscarriage. In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that out of every room of 100 women, 10 to 20 suffered miscarriages. Yet despite the striking similarities in this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuates a cycle of lonely mourning"

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"We have learned that when people ask how one of us is doing and they open up and listen sincerely to the answer, the burden of grief is often lighter for all of us," she added. By being invited to share our pain, together we take the first step toward healing."

Megan further reflected on the COVID-19 epidemic, the murders of Breanna Taylor and George Floyd, and the political "polarization" across America. Loss and pain plagued each of us in 2020, bringing both fraught and debilitating moments," she wrote.

"We ask others, 'Are you okay? Princess Meghan urged her readers." Even though we may disagree, even though we may be physically separated by distance, the truth is that we are more connected than ever because of all that we have endured this year, individually and collectively."