Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced Friday that he and his wife Priscilla Chan are expecting a baby girl.
But the 31-years-old notoriously private multi-billionaire also revealed the couple had endured three miscarriages.
Zuckerberg said they wanted to share their story to help others who do not feel they can talk to anyone.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15-20 percent of pregnancies result in miscarriages among women who know they are pregnant, and around half of all fertilized eggs die and are lost spontaneously, usually before the woman knows she is pregnant.
"You feel so hopeful when you learn you're going to have a child," he wrote.
"You start imagining who they'll become and dreaming of hopes for their future. You start making plans, and then they're gone. It's a lonely experience.
"Most people don't discuss miscarriages because you worry your problems will distance you or reflect upon you - as if you're defective or did something to cause this. So you struggle on your own.
"When we started talking to our friends, we realised how frequently this happened - that many people we knew had similar issues and that nearly all had healthy children after all.
"We hope that sharing our experience will give more people the same hope we felt and will help more people feel comfortable sharing their stories as well.
"Our good news is that our pregnancy is now far enough along that the risk of loss is very low and we are very hopeful."
The couple married in 2010 after meeting at university seven years earlier.
Zuckerberg added: "Cilla and our child are both healthy, I'm extremely excited to meet her and our dog Beast has no idea what's coming.
"In our ultrasound, she even gave me a thumbs up 'like' with her hand, so I'm already convinced she takes after me.
"We're looking forward to welcoming her into the world and sharing more soon when she's ready to come out and meet everyone!"
