Did Meghan Markle Fake Her Pregnancy?

Meghan Markle had a fairly controversial pregnancy, with many people criticizing the soon-to-be mother for everything, from her fashion choices to the way she often touched her baby bump. One particularly cruel rumor began to emerge during the Duchess of Sussex’s pregnancy that she wasn’t actually pregnant. Rather, Markle had the baby delivered via a surrogate and she had faked the entire pregnancy.

Why Some Are So Certain Meghan Markle Faked It All

There were several factors put forth to argue that Markle wasn’t truly pregnant with Prince Harry’s child. The duchess’ demeanor and pregnant body were picked apart by critics looking for any possible evidence that the pregnancy was faked. One detail that many people noted was that the size of Markle’s baby bump seemed to fluctuate in size, sometimes drastically within a few days. Two photos, one taken on January 10, 2019 and the other taken January 14, 2019, have been used to compare the abrupt changes.

In the first set of photos, Markle was wearing a form fitting black dress to visit Smart Works, her new patronage, and while the duchess was sporting a noticeable baby bump, it was fairly moderate in size.

Just four days later, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were photographed visiting a Feeding Birkenhead citizen supermarket, a charitable coalition of churches, food banks, and other community groups that aim to eliminate hunger in their community. Markle, this time wearing a purple dress that was much looser around the midsection, seemed to have a much larger stomach than she’d had just days before.

Too Flexible For A Pregnant Woman

Other public events featuring the duchess also showed her performing activities that suspicious people didn’t believe were possible for a woman as far along in her pregnancy as Meghan Markle. For instance, during a visit to Mayhew, an animal shelter that was one of Markle’s patronages, Markle crouched down to pet a dog, then stood back up, unassisted. It should be noted that this innocent incident took place when Markle was about four or five months along in her pregnancy, since the photo was taken in mid-January and Markle gave birth in May.

There were also multiple videos about Markle’s so-called fake pregnancy. In one video, Markle’s pregnancy belly seems to sway wildly back and forth with each step the duchess took. Almost 400 people have commented that they’d never seen a pregnant woman’s stomach move in such a way. This had to be proof, they reckoned, that Markle was wearing a false stomach, or some other contraption to fool the masses into believing she was pregnant.

Gossip Cop’s Take On The Rumor

Of course this rumor, like many others that spread online like wildfire about the Duchess of Sussex, is completely false. For every piece of evidence these would be detectives put forth, there’s a reasonable explanation.

There are literally dozens of reasons why a pregnant woman’s stomach might change in size from day to day, or even in the same day, especially before she reaches the third trimester. It could simply be bloating or water retention. The position of the baby within the womb can also affect the size of a baby bump. There’s also been studies that prove that later in the evening, abdominal muscles relax after holding tight during the day, causing the stomach to become more prominent.

Any number of those reasons could be used to explain why Markle’s belly made such a change over the course of four days, but her wardrobe is also partially to blame. The tighter, black dress held firm against Markle’s belly, masking the shape of her stomach somewhat. The purple dress was much looser, allowing the fabric to cling to Markle’s stomach in a different way, especially when she cradled her bump.

As for the so-called unnatural range of motion Markle enjoyed while visiting Mahew, recall that she was only just starting her second trimester. Though her belly look large against her slight frame, baby Archie wasn’t as big as the bump would have people believe. Markle’s also been known to enjoy yoga, and her mother, Doria Ragland, worked as a yoga instructor for many years. It seems reasonable that a four or five month pregnant woman who practiced yoga for years would be able to crouch down.

The video is a bit trickier, since the quality isn’t very good since it’s been slowed way down in an attempt to show Markle’s belly supposedly swaying. It’s hard to tell without seeing the original video, but to us, it looks like Markle’s dress, which is boldly patterned with a sort of optical illusion, was the only thing swaying. If you look at the hem of her dress in the video, it’s clear to see that there’s a lot of motion coming from the dress itself. The movement of the dress, combined with the eye-tricking pattern and Markle’s own movements, is probably to blame for the supposed motion.

The best evidence to prove that Markle really was pregnant are the photos from when Markle and Prince Harry introduced their son, Archie Harrison, to the world. Markle is clearly still carrying some of the baby weight, and her face is still quite puffy.

It comes as no surprise to Gossip Cop that Meghan Markle found herself at the center of such malicious rumors. Whenever the Duchess of Sussex makes the slightest royal faux pas, the tabloid media is quick to call her out on it. The constant negative reporting about Markle has driven a segment of people to truly hate the American-born wife of Prince Harry to a degree that almost doesn’t make sense. This hatred often results in crackpot rumors like this one floating around.