Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq War veteran and double amputee, on Monday announced that she is pregnant and due in December.
“My husband Bryan and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first child later this year,” Duckworth, 46, said in a statement. “We are overwhelmed by the support of our family, friends and neighbors. I look forward to continuing my work in Congress to make sure that all my constituents have the opportunity to achieve the American dream.”
{mosads}The Illinois lawmaker, who lost both legs in 2004, when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, made the announcement to coincide with a prerecorded segment on NBC’S “Today” show, in which she appears alongside other female Iraq War amputees who have recently had children or are expecting.
“I am so thrilled that I’m going to be a mother here in just four months,” Duckworth said during the segment, adding she and her husband “went through many cycles” of “all the different varieties” of in vitro fertilization.
“Being in the job that I have, it was really hard to keep it very quiet,” she said.
Duckworth let her staff in on the news about a month ago, spokesman Anton Becker told The Hill.
Duckworth also serves as a lieutenant colonel and personnel officer in the Illinois Army National Guard. Her husband is a major, and reports indicate he is currently stationed at National Guard headquarters in Virginia.
Duckworth is running for reelection this November against Republican Larry Kaifesh, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.
Her name has begun to be bandied about as potential challenger to Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) in 2016.