Sarah, Bristol Palin: Their pregnancies

by Mark Silva

If this is the headline out of the new, unauthorized biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, then the book won't be making too many waves: Palin's pregnancy with son Trig "was nearly uncovered when one of her daughters discovered Trig's prenatal ultrasound scan and confronted Palin with the picture.''

At least, that's what People.com is billing of the book, Trailblazer: An Intimate Biography of Sarah Palin, by Lorenzo Benet an assistant editor at People. The book is out today, from Simon & Schuster.

Combine this with the FOX News interview of Bristol Palin, the governor's 18-year-old daughter who has given birth to a child of her own - in which she tells Greta Van Susteren that, "Everyone should wait 10 years... I hope people learn from my story ... It's so much easier if you're married, have a house and career. It's not a situation you want to strive for.'' - and there's a real run of pregnancy chatter surrounding the family of the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president touted as one of the party's better prospects for '12.

Perhaps that's the way Palin would like it: Focus on the family, life and all - though the biography out today was not authorized.

Palin had been aware that son Trig had been diagnosed with Down syndrome before his birth, but did not disclose this to her four other children until his Trig's birth last April 18, several weeks after she went public with her pregnancy, the book discloses. "Not discussing the pregnancy with her daughters, she felt, would shorten the process and spare them from unwanted attention," according to the book, People reports.

"Trailblazer also reveals another reason Palin kept the pregnancy quiet,'' People reports. "She tells Benet, who interviewed Palin and her family for a 2008 People cover story: "Not knowing in my own heart if I was going to be ready to embrace a child with special needs - I couldn't talk about it."