Congresswoman Sara Jacobs

Like anyone who's gone through an egg retrieval knows that it's not an easy process.

Like

My body went through a lot.

I had brain fog and pain and all these other things that come along with it.

We were literally in the middle of a committee meeting and I had to run up to my office to give myself shots and run back down, which is not a pleasant experience.

No.

And I know that with everything happening in the world right now, I just knew that I couldn't be all in with my job if I was also having a family and a baby right now.

And so I knew that to be on the way I wanted to show up and be present in the way I want to in this moment that our country is in, that I needed to make this choice so that I could be all in on my future family when the time is right.

Although I will say I have no sympathy for people who live on the Eastern time zone.

to me, that was a really important part of it, right?

It's no secret that Congress is older and mailer and whiter than the average population.

And that's part of why I decided to talk about it so publicly and to be so open about it, because I knew that there are so many people who are facing these same choices, who are going through these same things, who have way less support than I do, and who deserve a Congress who understands

what this is and is trying to make it easier for them.

And after I talked about this very publicly the first time, I was at a meeting with military families and service members and a young woman who serves in the Navy came up to me and was like, I read the article about you freezing your eggs and I really wish that's something I could do.

And that was the genesis of me working to get TRICARE, the military insurance program,

to cover fertility treatments.

And that conversation wouldn't have happened, that legislation wouldn't have happened if I hadn't myself been living the thing that so many people are living.

And look, it's not easy.

I've had to give myself shots in the middle of really important things.

The brain fog and all of that is real.