US women in politics spark conversation about balancing family and career

Last summer, Representative Sara Jacobs would tally up to her bureau to springiness herself injections of hormones earlier rushing backmost to Congress for a league with her chap lawmakers.

The shots were for the 2nd circular of freezing her eggs, a aesculapian process that tin springiness women much clip to person children.

"It was an empowering determination that gave maine much agency," the 37-year-old said, adding that the process was challenging.

"Your assemblage hurts. Your hormones are crazy. It's benignant of similar puberty and menopause astatine the aforesaid time," she said.

Jacobs announced she was opening the ovum freezing process successful 2021, astatine a clip wherever she said fewer lawmakers were discussing the taxable successful the halls of Congress. The process - which tin outgo much than $10,000 and is seldom covered by security - involves doctors harvesting eggs from the ovaries and freezing them for a aboriginal pregnancy.

This week, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced she excessively was opening the process of freezing her eggs, documenting the regular mechanics of giving herself hormone shots connected societal media.

The left-wing Democrat's announcement sparked a speech astir the challenges of balancing motherhood and a demanding career, the aforesaid week that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she would beryllium leaving the Trump administration to walk much clip with her family, including her infant.

"The information is since returning to the White House aft the commencement of my daughter, I person felt successful my bosom that I cannot beryllium the champion mum my 2 young children merit portion devoting the changeless time, energy, and attraction required of the White House Press Secretary," Leavitt said.

Several women with engaged careers spoke to the BBC astir the challenges of juggling their enactment with motherhood successful the lone industrialised federation that does not mandate paid parental leave.

Less than a 4th of workers successful the US person entree to paid household permission done their employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over 120 nations astir the satellite - including each European countries - supply paid maternity leave.

In the US, women are progressively having children astatine older ages, portion much are choosing not to person children astatine all. From 2016 to 2023, the mean property of each mothers giving commencement successful the US roseate from 28.7 to 29.6, according to a 2025 study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Michele Heisler, a prof of interior medicine astatine the University of Michigan, gave commencement to her archetypal kid aft going backmost to aesculapian schoolhouse astatine the property of 30. She was large with her lad during her 3rd twelvemonth of aesculapian school.

Heisler, who serves arsenic aesculapian manager for nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights, said she has lone been capable to dedicate capable clip to her vocation due to the fact that of entree to resources - including nannies - and a hubby who is an adjacent spouse successful parenting.

"Unless it's wide that some are adjacent parents, [child rearing] is ever going to autumn connected the woman, and past you're going to person to instrumentality a measurement backmost successful immoderate way," Heisler said.

Heisler said a flexible docket is what allowed her to prosecute her vocation to the fullest - staying up precocious astatine nighttime to enactment and waking up sometimes astatine 05:00 to get her probe done - truthful she could walk clip with her children.

Seema Patel, an subordinate prof of instrumentality astatine UC Law San Francisco, besides stays up precocious astatine nighttime to effort to decorativeness her enactment truthful she doesn't person to miss moments with her children.

"The world is that these years successful your kids' lives are truthful fleeting, and I'm ace alert of the time," she said.

Patel worked for San Francisco's Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, which became the archetypal section authorities successful the US to walk a instrumentality requiring employers to supply paid parental leave.

But done her vocation arsenic a workers' rights lawyer, she has seen galore lower-wage workers and parents who are not fortunate capable to person entree to paid clip off.

When Patel began moving arsenic a national attorney, her brag advised her to prevention up her abrogation days successful lawsuit she yet wanted to person children and needed to instrumentality leave. She ended up taking the advice.

"I was a marque new, young lawyer who had not adjacent contemplated that signifier of my life, but I had to successful that moment, look that question of - I amended beryllium redeeming my abrogation days," she said.

But adjacent with immoderate maternity permission and a dedicated partner, arsenic her children - present ages 13, 11 and 7 - person grown older, the work-life juggling enactment remains a challenge.

"I person a precocious producing job," she said. "How tin I bash that portion besides being determination for my kids and attentive to them? I don't person an answer."

For now, Jacobs, who has completed 2 rounds of ovum freezing, plans to clasp disconnected connected having children portion her occupation requires her to alert crossed the state from California to Washington.

"Figuring retired however to beryllium a ma erstwhile I'm gone fractional the clip crossed the country, it's logistically complicated," she said.

Jacobs said she was impressed by her chap lawmakers who person managed to marque it work. Only a fistful of women person fixed commencement portion successful Congress, portion a fewer twelve lawmakers are mothers to children nether the property of 18.

The national government, similar galore US employers, does not connection paid parental leave, Jacobs noted.

"Both Congress and the wide American workplace were designed by and for men who had often stay-at-home spouses who handled each of the home work," she said. "It's going to instrumentality a batch of enactment for america to make a nine wherever the home enactment is truly shared arsenic betwixt women and men."

In the meanwhile, Jacobs feels reassured to person a back-up program for whenever she does consciousness she tin acceptable children into her engaged career.

"I anticipation to beryllium capable to bash that 1 day, but I conscionable haven't figured the clip is close conscionable yet," she said.