Michelle Obama reveals she suffered a miscarriage and her daughters were conceived by IVF

Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the United States, has revealed she suffered a miscarriage and that her two daughters were conceived by IVF.

The now mum-of-two opened up about her own struggle with fertility, revealing that she suffered a miscarriage before undergoing IVF to conceive her two daughters.

Like many women who have to deal with the painful reality of a miscarriage, the mum says she felt like a failure because she had no idea how common it was.

The 54-year-old told ABC: 'I felt like I failed because I didn't know how common miscarriages were because we don't talk about them.

'We sit in our own pain, thinking that somehow we're broken. It's important to talk to young mothers about the fact that miscarriages happen.'

'I think it's the worst thing that we do to each other as women, not share the truth about our bodies and how they work.'

According to the charity Tommy's, it's estimated that around one in four recognised pregnancies end in miscarriage, with 85 per cent of those happening in the first trimester (weeks 1 to 12).

Michelle also revealed she had to undergo IVF to have her two daughters, Malia and Sasha - now 20 and 17 years old respectively.

She said: 'I realised that as I was 34 and 35, we had to do IVF.'

The lawyer also spoke out about she and Barack went to marriage counselling when they had problems in their marriage.

'Marriage counselling for us was one of those ways where we learned how to talk out our differences,' she told ABC.

'I know too many young couples who struggle and think that somehow there's something wrong with them. And I want them to know that Michelle and Barack Obama, who have a phenomenal marriage and who love each other, we work on our marriage.

'And we get help with our marriage when we need it.'