US senator pregnant, set to be first to give birth in office

WASHINGTON: Good news from Washington.

US Senator Tammy Duckworth, a decorated Asian American army veteran and double amputee, announced Tuesday she was pregnant with her second child.

The 49-year-old Democrat from Illinois stands to be the first senator to give birth during her term.

"Wanted to share some exciting personal news..." she tweeted, alongside a picture of two grownup ducks and a young duck joined by a plus sign to a baby duck, and a caption that read: "Duck, duck, duck...duckling!"

Duckworth told the Chicago Sun-Times she was expecting her second child, another girl, in April -- a few weeks after she turns 50.

"Bryan and I are thrilled that our family is getting a little bit bigger, and Abigail is ecstatic to welcome her baby sister home this spring," she added in a statement, referring to her husband and three-year-old daughter.

Ten members of Congress have given birth in office -- but they all belonged to the chamber´s House of Representatives.

"As tough as it´s been to juggle motherhood and the demands of being in the House and now the Senate, it´s made me more committed to doing this job," the Sun-Times quoted her as saying.

An Iraq war veteran and retired US army lieutenant colonel, Duckworth lost both her legs when the helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down by insurgents in 2004.

She entered the House in 2012 and then the Senate in 2016, where she is one of the 100-strong chamber´s 22 women.

Born in Thailand to a Thai mother and American father, she is the joint second Asian American woman to serve in the Senate, alongside Kamala Harris.