By Chloe Cornell
In honor of Mother’s Day, we highlight some extraordinary feats of new and upcoming moms. These women are breaking barriers while balancing the responsibility of being a mom.
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth made history being the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is a retired army lieutenant colonel and had her second baby Maile Pearl in early April. Duckworth is already one of 10 women who have given birth while serving in Washington D.C., as she gave birth to her first daughter Abigail in 2014 when she was a member of the House of Representatives. Since her first daughter’s birth, Duckworth has written many new bills to help new parents with the challenge of balancing their children and their job, however, none of them have become law. On April 19th, Duckworth brought ten-day-old Maile with her onto the Senate floor to cast her vote for the head of NASA, which was another first in history, as the Senate voted to permit babies on the floor just the previous day to accommodate Senator Duckworth. The night before the vote, Duckworth joked on social media that Maile’s outfit met the Senate’s strict dress requirements. “Maile’s outfit is prepped. Made sure she has a jacket so she doesn’t violate the Senate floor dress code requiring blazers. Not sure what the policy is on duckling onesies but I think we’re ready.”
Tennis champion Serena Williams, who became a mother to daughter Alexis Olympia in September, participated in and triumphed at the 2017 Australian Open for the seventh time in January. Although this is remarkable, it has come to be expected of the top ranked women’s tennis player, who holds the most grand slam awards of any active player. However what made her victory even more astonishing, Williams later revealed that while competing against her sister Venus Williams in the finals, she was 8 weeks pregnant. Williams is renowned for breaking barriers in feminism and racism, and her tournament triumph without losing a single set during her first trimester does just that and more. Williams’s success shows the world how impressive women’s bodies are and further counteracts some people’s outdated beliefs of feminine inferiority. Williams is the subject of a new five-part HBO documentary series Being Serena which amongst other things features her life as a new mom. She revealed to People Magazine that her now seven month old daughter “Watches tennis like a hawk.” It sounds like there will be another Williams tennis player to watch as Williams continued, “She never takes her eyes off tennis when it’s on. It’s weird and that makes me a little nervous.”
Duchess Kate Middleton of Cambridge recently gave birth to her third child, Prince Louis Arthur Charles. The new prince, who will be known as Prince Louis of Cambridge, is now fifth in line for the British crown. His big sister, two year old Princess Charlotte of Cambridge made history with her brother’s arrival, becoming the first princess who won’t be bumped down in line for succession to the crown by a younger brother. (Learn more about this in this issue’s “It List”)
Khloe Kardashian, the reality television personality and businesswoman, just had her first baby, True Thompson with her boyfriend Tristan Thompson, a professional basketball player on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Days before giving birth in Cleveland, the media revealed that Thompson had been cheating on Kardashian throughout her pregnancy with multiple women. As expected, Kardashian is devastated and feels humiliated but is receiving support from her sisters and family as well as from fans around the world. Thompson and Kardashian do not live in the same house, but both are still in Cleveland and Thompson visits often. Kardashian has not revealed anything to the press since Thompson was exposed and is trying to create the most normal and loving environment for her daughter True.
Other noteworthy new moms who will be celebrating Mother’s Day for the first time are Khloe’s sister Kylie Jenner and our favorite “Mean Girl” Rachel McAdams. Women who will still be pregnant on Mother’s day include Cardi B who revealed her pregnancy to much media fanfare while performing songs from her new album on Saturday Night Live. Kate Hudson is pregnant with her third child and shared her gender reveal party on social media, which you can watch here: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/entertainment/kate-hudson-pregnant/index.html. Eva Longoria, Kirsten Dunst, Rachel Weisz and Chrissy Teigen are also expecting and we wish them all the best of luck!
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May 2018 issue
