Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-creator of Facebook, and wife Priscilla Chan have announced that they are pregnant with their first child, a girl, after many tries and miscarriages over their first few years of marriage. The couple is said to be far enough along that their risk of loss is much lower than at the beginning of the pregnancy. Zuckerberg, in true Facebook fashion, made the announcement over his social media site, letting the world know it was finally their turn to start a family.
Miscarriage: The Most Common Types of Pregnancy Loss
Miscarriages typically happen within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy and up to 25% of all clinically recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriage. According to American Pregnancy, there are various forms of miscarriages that may occur, and several different treatment options to accompany them. Venture Capitol Post tells us that Chan has experienced three miscarriages throughout the couple’s trial to conceive. The likelihood of continual miscarriage after your first is around 20% (this number varies a few points, depending on where your information is coming from. Many women don’t report accurately on miscarriages due to misinformation and feelings of shame associated with the issue.)
Infertility: More Common than You Thought
There are more than 5 million people experience cases of infertility a year, however, there are treatment options available for couple’s experiencing infertility. Many people assume infertility is a female issue, but that is only the case 35% of the time. The remaining 65% are attributed to men being infertile (35%), a combined problem between the couple (20%) and unexplained cases (10%.)
The Facebook Baby
Miscarriages and infertility are issues that many women struggle with, and to see the Zuckerberg’s dealing with such an issue is heartbreaking. However, it shows the world that they are real people, and somewhat humanizes their celebrity status. It’s likely that we will see the continuing story and pregnancy updates on the Facebook CEO’s page, and while this pregnancy may not be the huge story that the Royal Family’s was, it’s safe to say many of us in the tech world will be reading up on it just as much since many consider them technology royalty.
