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Cherie Blair

84 replies

emsiewill · 06/08/2002 20:50

I heard the news about her miscarriage, and of course my first thought was how sad it is for them, but I have to admit I also wonder what contraceptive they are using; I thought Leo was a "surprise", and I find it hard to believe they were planning another one - she's 47, after all. Maybe it's just because I can't imagine having more than 2, and find it hard to imagine voluntarily having 5!

OP posts:
jodee · 07/08/2002 13:46

It's very sad, and so personal, the last thing they must have wanted was for it to be headline news. I do hope she isn't blaming herself for perhaps taking too much on in the last week or so, and it was such a miserable, wet night at the closing of the Commonwealth Games. DH commented at the time that she looked very detached from everything that was going on.

jodee · 07/08/2002 13:47

Whoops, how embarrassing! My keyboard got stuck.

Tetley · 07/08/2002 13:48

Wow, Jodee - what happened there????

oxocube · 07/08/2002 14:02

I know its all been said, but I wanted to add my sympathy to the Blair's sad story. Anyone who has had a miscarriage ( I have had 2) will know how truly horrible it is and how there is always that feeling of guilt that you could have done something to prevent it - silly, of course, but usually true. Whether the Blairs meant to have another baby is, quite frankly, nobody's business but theirs and even if the baby was unplanned, it will not make this any less a distressing experience for them both.

I would also like to echo Aloha's sentiments about Gordon and Sarah Browne, such a sad tragedy.

JanZ · 07/08/2002 16:10

I think it is very sad to have go through this in the public eye. How aweful as well if the other kids hadn't known - I hope they were told before it was splashed all over the media.

On a selfish note, I hope dh reads some of the stats about the risks for 40+ mums. It doesn't seem to have sunk in with him that if we want a sibling for ds (which we do) then age IS an issue (I am 41). If I tell him, it could be construed as nagging.

I've only just found out that he didn't realise that the genetic risk hasn't gone away just because ds was OK - he assumed that that meant that all future kids would be OK. I suppose we (as in females) sometimes assume that the men know the same things we do - but then they're not the ones with biological clock ticking.

Mooma · 07/08/2002 17:56

Marina - dh and I thought we knew how to use contraception, but ds came along anyway!

SueDonim · 07/08/2002 18:08

Indonesia isn't in the least bit interested in the Blair's holiday plans (not much interested in the rest of the UK either, come to that!!) and appears to think there will be no invasion of Iraq so I had no idea of the circs of this story, though it could have been a decoy, of course. I'm not saying it is a decoy, just that it could have been, which is a valid opinion. Nor can I imagine that CB cares what I think.

Re the spin, my ds was a spin doctor to two Cabinet ministers for two years, and believe me, if there's a story, they'll spin it.

aloha · 07/08/2002 18:46

I do think it was sensible to announce it regardless of the Iraq thing, as her not turning up on holiday with the kids would have been noticed by the press corps in France and much commented on and I am sure they would have asked Downing Street what was going on, so why not tell the truth - after all, a miscarriage is nothing to be ashamed of and be kept secret, surely? After all we knew all about Bush's bowel probe, and that IS embarassing. I'm sure they'd rather have sympathetic coverage than otherwise, but hey, of course they would.

Chinchilla · 07/08/2002 19:48

Gracie - I know you are only expressing your opinions, but they are comments on a member of mumsnet, rather than an opinion on a subject

It wasn't a personal attack on you or anybody specific, which is why I said 'don't all launch on me now'!!

I guess that the reason that I made my comment was that I identified with Tillysmummy to some extent. I didn't think that the m/c was made up, just that it allowed TB to avoid the Iraq/Bush problem. (Not that I am implying that a m/c can EVER be construed as convenient).

I do think that the situation is very sad, and I am sure that the family will find solace in each other. The loss of potential life is always heartbreaking.

robinw · 07/08/2002 21:28

message withdrawn

Eulalia · 07/08/2002 22:03

I mentioned the topic of older dads on a thread - I think under 'parenting' as my DH is 56. If people are physically capable of reproducing into their 40's/50's then how can it be wrong for them to do so?

Mopsy · 07/08/2002 23:11

Just had a thought - and it's probably only my cynical spindoctor brain - but I do wonder if actually she had a termination (for whatever reason) and 'they' decided to come up with the m/c story. They could've just said 'she was admitted to hospital for a short time to receive treatment for a minor medical matter, she is well now and will go home tonight' or something equally oblique. It's just that IME it's often seen as ideal to invent a story that's as near ('technically', IYSWIM) to the truth as possible.

I'd like to think that the above is absolute rubbish, but given the nature of some of the events and decisions I've had to portray in a completely different light nothing would surprise me. Hope I haven't offended anyone.

Clarinet60 · 07/08/2002 23:33

Just to add my twopenneth, I was brought up by my grandparents and they were wonderful. Yes, it was sad when they died, but the extra patience and experience they had made it all worthwhile. I too feel sorry for Cherie & Tone, as I have had two miscarriages. As for the guilt, I lost my new son's twin at 8 weeks gestation, five minutes after moaning aloud that my pregnancy-sickness was so bad I couldn't possible stand it a moment longer. Strange co-incidence, what? I was also surprised that Cherie was pregnant again, but perhaps she just has easy pregnancies and births, is fit and healthy and doesn't make such heavy weather of it as some of us (me included, my obstetric history is for sh--t). I think the termination hypothesis is rather far-fetched. (Sorry, can't remember which of you suggested it but that's just my opinion).

susanmt · 08/08/2002 01:20

Just wanted to add my sympathies too - I have had 3 miscarriages and 2 of them were with unplanned pregnancies, and in many ways they were harder to deal with - you are dealing with the shock and coming to terms and then you have to come to terms with something else ... all very difficult and I feel for all of them, including the older children ho no doubt knew what was going on and will be upset by it too.

Gracie · 08/08/2002 07:43

Chichilla, it wasn't an opinion on a Mumsnet member, it was an opinion on the view that a 47 year old intelligent woman would deliberately fall pregnant in order to further her husband's carrer.

aloha · 08/08/2002 10:02

But Mopsy, as I said below, of course it wasn't a termination - she was due to be on the first day of her holiday with her children and the entire British press were waiting for her & Tone at the airport. There could hardly have been a single day when her absence would have been more obvious. Of course an intelligent 47 year old woman wouldn't choose to have a termination on such a day! The holiday's been planned and public knowledge for months and they knew they would be in the media spotlight more than ever that day - plus I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have wanted to miss a single moment of her holiday with the kids to be in hospital. This was clearly not pre-planned, no matter how cynical you are. And again, why not announce it was a miscarriage? It's not something to be ashamed of, is it? Given that she had a 50-50 chance of miscarriage at 47, why do people think it is so unlikely? I'm baffled.

Bozza · 08/08/2002 10:50

I think Aloha has made some good points here. We're getting into real conspiracy theorists these days.

musica · 08/08/2002 10:52

Also, why have a termination when, as people are talking of this being 'spun', what is a better vote-winner than another baby??? I personally don't think this is political at all - just a sad event for the Blair family. I hope they are having a good break with their family, and I also hope Gordon and Sarah Brown are having a nice summer.

mears · 08/08/2002 11:06

Considering terminations in London are done in some women's lunch hour I think that this theory is extremely unlikely. The poor woman has lost a baby - end of story!

oxocube · 08/08/2002 12:26

Can I just add here, yesterday I spoke to my Mum about this and we were both saying how sad it was. Then she told me that a (hopefully ex) friend of hers had really shocked her yesterday when the story was all over the press by saying that she thought Cherie and Tony Blair were "disgusting" to be pregnant at their (her?)age; that they were just trying to "prove that they still have sex" and that "no one becomes pregnant by accident in this day and age". As a splendid and sick finale, she also added that they may even have tried for a baby deliberately to "prove to the nation that they can look after a handicapped child" and therefore, presumably win more votes. I am rarely lost for words but PLEASE somebody tell me this is not a typical view. Sick or what.

sis · 08/08/2002 12:38

oxocube, there is cynical and there is completely barmy and I think your mum's friend falls into the latter (did I really post somewhere about not being too judgemental about other people?!!).

sml · 08/08/2002 13:01

I'm sure this view isn't typical - hope not anyway! Whatever Cherie Blair does, she gets criticised for, poor woman. Have you noticed, she hardly ever says anything in public now, but IMO she's got a lot of good stuff to say. When you consider how newsworthy the Blair family is, I think on the whole they've done a good job of keeping their family out of the news.
If she got pregnant again, it was probably because she wants another baby - and why not? They've worked hard enough to support their family. I'm not a Labour supporter by the way, just don't like to see a lot of negative gossip! (not so much here as in newspapers/on tv)

janh · 08/08/2002 13:57

oxocube's mum's friend's "disgusting" opinion is probably held by quite a lot of people of that generation - yes, barmy, but normal for them. I mean they were raised to think sex was disgusting full stop (and quite a lot of them tried to pass that idea on to their daughters).

The rest of what she thought was completely OTT (but she's probably an old-fashioned Tory. Margaret and Denis only had to do it once, you know.)

Rhubarb · 08/08/2002 14:22

How old is Cherie Blair anyway? And I had no idea she was a Catholic, I thought she was C of E like him. Anyway, I figure that she probably thought she was going through the menopause and so let contraception slip a bit, if she was taking any at all, depending on how fervent a Catholic she is. I doubt it was planned as just a week earlier they had visited some school or other and Cherie was nursing a baby, TB remarked "Oh I don't like the look of this, she'll be getting broody again!" If he knew his wife was pregnant he wouldn't have said anything.

I really don't think that either TB or CB are as cynical or heartless to conceive a baby just for political tactics. They seem to be quite devoted to their children and if he wasn't PM I would probably quite like them. You never know, Cherie might visit Mumsnet, if she does then she has my full-on sympathies.

Rhubarb · 08/08/2002 14:23

I thought the Thatchers had 2 kids Janh, Mark and whassername, Carol?