The national secretary of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, broke the silence on an intimate fight shared by thousands of women. By announcing her three-month pregnancy, which she describes as a “miracle baby”, the 39-year-old politician looks back on a journey marked by a painful miscarriage and repeated failures in medically assisted procreation (MAP).
A testimony of resilience which highlights the flaws in infertility care in France.
A combat journey: between miscarriage and IVF failures
Behind the image of the combative politician has been hiding, since 2022, a much more fragile reality. Marine Tondelier confided that she experienced a first early miscarriage shortly after her election as leader of the Greens. A “very violent” moment experienced in total secrecy.
After this trauma, she and her partner turned to medically assisted procreation (MAP). Despite in vitro fertilization (IVF) protocols, failures have accumulated, including a new pregnancy stopped during the dissolution of the National Assembly in 2024. It was finally after putting this project “on pause” that nature took back its rights. This “miracle baby” is, for her, a message of hope sent to all those who go through this tunnel of solitude.
PMA and IVF: understanding these techniques of hope
To alleviate infertility, medicine today offers several assisted reproduction solutions. In France, more than 20,000 children are born each year using these techniques:
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Artificial insemination: The simplest method, consisting of injecting sperm directly into the uterus at the time of ovulation;
- In vitro fertilization (IVF): It consists of bringing eggs and sperm into contact in the laboratory. After a few days of development, the embryo is transferred to the uterus. The success rate is around 25%;
- ICSI (Microinjection): A variant of IVF where a single sperm is injected directly into the oocyte, often used in cases of severe male infertility.
Currently, French law limits access to PMA to women until their 45th birthday for embryo transfer.
Pre-implantation diagnosis: Marine Tondelier’s plea
Drawing on her experience, Marine Tondelier raises a crucial point in the bioethical debate: the analysis of embryos (pre-implantation diagnosis of aneuploidies or PGD-A). Currently banned in France under common law, this technique makes it possible to check whether the embryo has the right number of chromosomes before implantation.
“This would avoid a form of persistence in implanting non-viable embryos.“, she explains.
Indeed, the majority of early miscarriages are due to chromosomal abnormalities, a reality which increases with maternal age. Authorizing this screening would spare couples from transfers doomed to failure and the psychological trauma that results from them.
Getting out of the taboo of natural termination of pregnancy
Finally, each year in France, there are an estimated 200,000 miscarriages. However, the subject remains largely invisible. Marine Tondelier insists on the violence of these moments, often experienced in the shadows so as not to “make people sad”.
The collective “Miscarriage, true experience” campaigned in 2022 for the term “miscarriage” to be replaced by “natural termination of pregnancy”, in order to better reflect the physical and psychological reality of the event. Since 2024, things have changed. French legislation has taken a historic step to better protect women after a spontaneous termination of pregnancy.
Since January 1, 2024, work stoppage due to miscarriage benefits from the elimination of the waiting day. Daily allowances are paid from the first day for private, public and self-employed employees, on specific medical prescription.
On the career side, the law of July 7, 2023 establishes protection against dismissal for 10 weeks (for interruptions between the 14th and 21st week), except serious misconduct.
In the event of a late miscarriage (from 22 weeks or 500g), parents have access to their full maternity and paternity leave.
Finally, the care pathway is humanized with easier access to the “MonSoutienPsy” system for psychological care without advance costs. But also the possibility for midwives to prescribe work stoppage for the woman as well as her partner.