In a message of hope to both women trying to conceive and to working mothers, 49-year-old Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who has announced she is six months pregnant, said "You can do anything."
"It was a very long journey," the Illinois Democrat told NBC’s "Today" on Wednesday. "We’re very, very blessed."
Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost both her legs after the helicopter she was co-piloting crashed in Iraq in 2004, would become the first senator to give birth in office, although 10 members of the House of Representatives have had children while serving in the chamber, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Duckworth said she and her husband "are thrilled that our family is getting a little bit bigger, and [three-year-old daughter] Abigail is ecstatic to welcome her baby sister home this spring."
She also thanked the staff at hospitals in Illinois and Washington for the help they gave her.
Duckworth was elected to the House in 2012, and then in 2016 won a seat in the Senate.
She said that her experiences as a working mother have given her an important perspective while serving in Congress.
"Parenthood isn’t just a women’s issue, it’s an economic issue and an issue that affects all parents — men and women alike," she said. "As tough as juggling the demands of motherhood and being a senator can be, I’m hardly alone or unique as a working parent, and Abigail has only made me more committed to doing my job and standing up for hardworking families everywhere."
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.