Nicola Sturgeon tells of agony at losing her baby
NICOLA STURGEON has revealed that she suffered a miscarriage five years ago and spoke of her anguish at losing the baby.
The First Minister, who is married to the Scottish National Party’s chief executive Peter Murrell, has been distressed in the past by assumptions she had decided to put her political career before starting a family.
In extracts from a new book the intensely private 46-year-old has opened up for the first time about having children.
Sturgeon told the book’s author Mandy Rhodes she was in the early stages of pregnancy at the age of 40 and was preparing to share her news when she miscarried.
However, instead of recovering at home she attended a public engagement marking the 40th anniversary of the Ibrox disaster on January 3, 2011.
Photographs were taken of the First Minister at the memorial for the 66 Rangers fans who were crushed to death, showing her with her eyes shut and looking distressed.
She has never before spoken about losing her child, seeking not to be defined by what happened.
But aware of her position as a role model she has decided to go public about her experience, keen to ensure women do not conclude they must sacrifice part of their lives to climb the career ladder.
In the book Ms Sturgeon admits she does not know if she could have “had it all” and led Scotland’s devolved government as a mother.
She said: “If the miscarriage hadn’t happened, would I be sitting here as first minister right now? It’s an unanswerable question.”
Last year she reacted with astonishment after she and other childless female politicians, including Prime Minister Theresa May, were depicted on the front of the New Statesman magazine overlooking a cot containing a ballot box for an article headlined “The motherhood trap”.
The debate about the compatibility of political leadership and motherhood re-emerged this summer during the Conservative leadership race when Andrea Leadsom suggested that being a mother made her a better candidate than Mrs May.