Sadly, it is a common event. Although it's difficult to give an exact figure, at least one in 10 known pregnancies ends in miscarriage. Even more often, a woman miscarries before she realises she's pregnant. Perhaps as many as three-quarters of all fertilised eggs are lost in the very earliest stages of pregnancy. Any woman can miscarry, but some are more at risk than others.
Age also plays a role.
The miscarriage rate doubles from age 20 to 40. At 40, about one-quarter of all pregnancies miscarry. Even healthy young women with no known risk factors can miscarry. Wendy certainly wasn't at risk. Yet she had two miscarriages a few months apart when she was 31 years old.