The Senate Needs a Nursery
January 23, 2018 6:34 PM Subscribe
There have been ten women who have given birth while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives; one of them was Tammy Duckworth in 2014. While she was on maternity leave, she decided to run for Senator. Now she slated to be the first member of the U.S. Senate to give birth while in office. Duckworth (D-Illinois), who turns 50 in March, is due in April.
Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran who was co-piloting a helicopter when a rocket-propelled grenade tore through the aircraft. She lost both legs, and was the first woman double amputee from that war. She remained in the National Guard and retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2014. She completed her PhD the next year. Duckworth is both a Daughter of the American Revolution and the daughter of an immigrant. And just last weekend, she called our president "Cadet Bone Spurs."
Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran who was co-piloting a helicopter when a rocket-propelled grenade tore through the aircraft. She lost both legs, and was the first woman double amputee from that war. She remained in the National Guard and retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2014. She completed her PhD the next year. Duckworth is both a Daughter of the American Revolution and the daughter of an immigrant. And just last weekend, she called our president "Cadet Bone Spurs."
The entire Congress needs a nursery.
posted by Splunge at 6:45 PM on January 23, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 6:45 PM on January 23, 2018 [12 favorites]
Cmon guys get with the program New Zealand style.
posted by supercrayon at 6:47 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by supercrayon at 6:47 PM on January 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Here in Illinois, Duckworth's victory consoled me in 2016. The ass-kicking Kirk got in the process for his shitty comments about her was pretty gratifying too.
posted by BibiRose at 7:23 PM on January 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by BibiRose at 7:23 PM on January 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
She's my senator too! Kirk wasn't the WORST kind of Republican; I kind of appreciated how he went a little Bulworth after his stroke, but I'd take Duckworth over him any day, and I'm glad enough people agreed with me on Election Day.
posted by jordemort at 7:28 PM on January 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by jordemort at 7:28 PM on January 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Cmon guys get with the program New Zealand style.
Hey, if it's a competition, Pakistan got there in 1990...
posted by bardophile at 8:00 PM on January 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hey, if it's a competition, Pakistan got there in 1990...
posted by bardophile at 8:00 PM on January 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Fertility is an amazing thing. There are a ton of women in my family tree (and probably most of our family trees) who had babies into their fifties; heck, my great-grandmother was 50 when she had my paternal grandpa.
Interestingly, when entering data into Ancestry.com, it throws up an alert every time the mother's age at birth is younger than 15 that says "The birth date is before the mother's child-bearing age. Are you sure?" But it doesn't do that for women over 50. Or 60. Or 70. (It will generate an alert if you try to enter a birth date after the mother has died though. Gee.)
posted by elsietheeel at 9:39 PM on January 23, 2018
Interestingly, when entering data into Ancestry.com, it throws up an alert every time the mother's age at birth is younger than 15 that says "The birth date is before the mother's child-bearing age. Are you sure?" But it doesn't do that for women over 50. Or 60. Or 70. (It will generate an alert if you try to enter a birth date after the mother has died though. Gee.)
posted by elsietheeel at 9:39 PM on January 23, 2018
Also fertility aside, Tammy Duckworth is a stone-cold badass and I LOVE her.
posted by elsietheeel at 9:40 PM on January 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 9:40 PM on January 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Tammy Duckworth and husband Bryan Bowlsbey have a child, Abigail, born in 2014. I suspect they've got childcare working for them already.
posted by Carol Anne at 5:40 AM on January 24, 2018
posted by Carol Anne at 5:40 AM on January 24, 2018
My senator!
I had no idea she is nearly 50. And yes, she is a total badass and a great role model—for both men and women.
posted by bookmammal at 6:05 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I had no idea she is nearly 50. And yes, she is a total badass and a great role model—for both men and women.
posted by bookmammal at 6:05 AM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
The Senate and House both have day care centers. If she's interested in enrolling her child, Sen. Duckworth may well have already signed up, as waiting lists are long. (Which come to think of it might be why a Member enrolled her child at the non-Congressional center the little Know-it-somes went to.)
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:49 AM on January 24, 2018
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:49 AM on January 24, 2018
According to the linked article, she has both her mother and an au pair living with them. The title is meant to be an nice but ambiguous joke.
posted by Miss Cellania at 7:31 AM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Miss Cellania at 7:31 AM on January 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
I’m sure this goes without saying for a lot of you but I’ll say it anyway - this isn’t just cool and exciting but it’s also important. Since having a baby, I’ve sometimes (often?) felt like I was a slave to biology. I don’t mean to sound like the poster mom for postpartum depression but all of the cool-sounding things I used to do before pregnancy - travel! volunteer abroad! go see a movie whenever! dance all night to this DJ! - feel IMPOSSIBLE now. I was talking with colleagues who asked what I was doing for New Year’s and was like, I can’t get a sitter for New Year’s. Going anywhere with my daughter feels like A Thing yet I can’t entertain the thought of going without her because of guilt and I’d probably just miss her. She is 20 months old and I haven’t spent a night away from her since she came home from the hospital. In conclusion, I’m a huge loser now and sometimes I feel like my life is over (I KNOW that’s super dramatic and that my life isn’t over, it’s just different blah blah blah but my old life is totally over).
But. Anytime I see another woman make this work, it gives me hope. Sometimes it makes me feel worse about myself (I found out a colleague had two kids as a single mom while in medical school and I’m like wah, I’m staying home on New Year’s stop judging me I used to like New Year’s) but usually it gives me hope. She can be a badass pregnant senator at 50?? Maybe I can stop being a human disaster someday. Maybe. Someday.
posted by kat518 at 5:52 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
But. Anytime I see another woman make this work, it gives me hope. Sometimes it makes me feel worse about myself (I found out a colleague had two kids as a single mom while in medical school and I’m like wah, I’m staying home on New Year’s stop judging me I used to like New Year’s) but usually it gives me hope. She can be a badass pregnant senator at 50?? Maybe I can stop being a human disaster someday. Maybe. Someday.
posted by kat518 at 5:52 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would like to see Tammy Duckworth make 6 month paid maternity/paternity leave a signature issue. Well, strike that since we put the onus on women and mothers too much as it is. I think that the Democrats in general should make 6 month paid maternity/paternity leave a signature issue. Because most Americans aren't going to have Duckworth's resources and support system. She's a badass, but she's supported by a significant financial and social framework that most people don't get.
Everyone should get it.
posted by Justinian at 5:59 PM on January 24, 2018
Everyone should get it.
posted by Justinian at 5:59 PM on January 24, 2018
This is incredibly valuable to me as a working, pregnant mom. I feel like the more high-profile women there are pregnant in the public domain and kicking' it, the less I get the once-over at work when people see me waddling around like a giant beach ball with tiny limbs. Yes, this beach ball is still your boss.
posted by Toddles at 6:01 PM on January 24, 2018
posted by Toddles at 6:01 PM on January 24, 2018
I’d like to send some preschool teachers to Congress. They’re experienced at handling tantrums, they should do well.
posted by Anne Neville at 10:22 AM on January 25, 2018
posted by Anne Neville at 10:22 AM on January 25, 2018
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posted by jeff-o-matic at 6:44 PM on January 23, 2018