Fact check: Did Meghan Markle say she had a cesarean section and when?

Executive summary

Meghan Markle has not publicly stated that she delivered by cesarean section, and available contemporaneous reporting and later accounts do not support a clear claim that she said she had a C‑section. Contemporary speculation around her births focused on choices like hiring a doula or the possibility of a home birth, while a post‑fact book account characterized her first delivery as “uncomplicated” and not by C‑section; later interviews discuss a postpartum medical scare ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}. This analysis compares those sources, their dates, and the narratives they advance to show what is documented and what remains unspoken.

1. The early media chatter: doula, home birth speculation and absence of a C‑section claim

Early press coverage and lifestyle pieces around Meghan Markle’s first pregnancy focused on preparations and choices rather than an explicit surgical birth claim. Several 2019 pieces speculated about whether Meghan might have a home birth or highlighted that she had hired a doula, implying an interest in a less medicalized labor but not asserting she underwent a cesarean section ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Those articles framed the conversation around preference and safety for low‑risk pregnancies rather than reporting direct quotes from Meghan saying she delivered by C‑section. The absence of a contemporaneous quote or medical confirmation in these pieces is notable: they show public curiosity and conjecture but do not contain a recorded statement from Meghan saying she had a surgical delivery ^{[1] [2] [3]}. That gap matters when assessing the provenance of any later claim.

2. The memoir and insider account: 'Finding Freedom' and the 'uncomplicated' birth line

A later published account summarized in reporting about the Sussexes’ first year describes Meghan’s first delivery as “uncomplicated” and not by C‑section, with a source saying she “took the advice” of doctors during labor ^[4]. That line contrasts with earlier public speculation about home or non‑surgical births and represents a retrospective characterization rather than a contemporaneous first‑person statement by Meghan. The memoir‑adjacent narration aims to present a clarified version of events for readers and historians, but as an insider account it carries the usual caveats about sourcing and editorial framing. The key factual point is that this account does not record Meghan saying she had a cesarean; on the contrary, it reports a non‑surgical delivery as the claim ^[4].

3. Postpartum medical disclosures in 2025: serious complications but not an admission of C‑section

In 2025, Meghan Markle publicly discussed a postpartum preeclampsia episode, describing it as a “huge medical scare,” and these interviews and reports focused on the postpartum complication rather than the method of delivery ^{[5] [6]}. These 2025 accounts provide additional medical context about the risks she faced after giving birth, which can fuel retrospective questions about delivery details, but they do not include Meghan stating she delivered via cesarean. The emphasis in those pieces is on the gravity of a postpartum condition and the balancing of work and motherhood, not on a surgical birth narrative. Therefore, the 2025 disclosures do not corroborate any claim that Meghan publicly said she had a C‑section ^{[5] [6]}.

4. Comparing timelines: conjecture in 2019, retrospective narrative in 2020, medical disclosure in 2025

The chronology of sources shows three distinct phases that shape public understanding: early conjecture and reporting about birth plans in 2019, a retrospective claim in 2020 that the first birth was “uncomplicated” and not by C‑section, and public accounts of postpartum complications in 2025 ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}. The absence of a direct, contemporaneous quote from Meghan saying she had a C‑section persists across those phases. The 2020 account actively contradicts a C‑section claim for the first birth, while 2019 material never asserted surgical delivery. The 2025 medical disclosures add a new layer of health detail but remain silent on the delivery method. Taken together, the timeline supports the conclusion that she did not publicly claim a cesarean.

5. Motives, agendas and what remains unverified

Different sources carry different editorial purposes: lifestyle outlets in 2019 aimed at audience curiosity and speculation about celebrity birth choices, an insider book in 2020 sought to set the record straight about private family milestones, and 2025 interviews centered on health advocacy and personal testimony ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}. Each source’s agenda shapes what facts are highlighted or omitted, and none of these materials present a direct statement from Meghan asserting she had a C‑section. The remaining unverified point is whether there exist private medical records or off‑the‑record comments that would contradict the public texts; based solely on the documented sources reviewed here, there is no public statement by Meghan that she had a cesarean section, and one reputable retrospective account explicitly says she did not ^[4].