Mother Of Invention

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth’s History-making Delivery Of Her Second Daughter Got The Boys’ Club To Reform Its Outdated Rules

- Kayla Webley Adler

Senator Tammy Duckworth is used to breaking barriers. An Iraq War veteran who chose to serve as a helicopter pilot because it was one of few combat jobs open to women, she was the first female double amputee from the conflict, after her legs had to be amputated when a helicopter she was copiloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Duckworth went on to serve as an Illinois state representative for two terms before becoming the first disabled woman elected to Congress, in 2012. (She’s also the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress from Illinois and the first member of Congress from any state to have been born in Thailand.) Last year, she defeated incumbent Republican senator Mark Kirk to win a seat in the U.S. Senate, making her the second Asian-American woman in the legislative body.

And she’s not done achieving milestones. This spring, Duckworth, 50, became the first senator to give birth while in office, an occasion that forced the chamber to get with the times. On April 18, senators voted unanimously to allow infants on the floor during votes, reversing a rule that prohibited family members. That same day, in yet another historic first, Duckworth brought her 10-day-old daughter, Maile Pearl Bowlsbey, as she voted against confirming James Bridenstine as NASA’s next administrator. (He was confirmed 50–49.) This month, as Duckworth returns to work full-time, we speak with her about the buzz her pregnancy generated, paid maternity leave, and the age-old question of “having it all.”

MARIE CLAIRE: ARE YOU SURPRISED BY HOW MUCH ATTENTION YOUR PREGNANCY RECEIVED?