Ms. Duckworth, 49, told The Chicago Sun-Times in an article published on Tuesday that she and her husband tried various fertilization methods before Abigail was conceived through a form of in vitro fertilization. She said she decided to run for the Senate while on maternity leave.

After Abigail’s cesarean birth, Ms. Duckworth told The Sun-Times, she had to wait 18 months to try again; she also said she had a miscarriage during her 2016 Senate campaign.



“I’ve had multiple IVF cycles and a miscarriage trying to conceive again, so we’re very grateful,” she told the newspaper.

A spokesman for Ms. Duckworth confirmed the details of The Sun-Times article to The New York Times.

After Abigail was born, Ms. Duckworth introduced legislation titled “Friendly Airports for Mothers Act,” which, she wrote in an opinion piece for Cosmopolitan, “would ensure that all large-and medium-size airports have accessible, safe, clean and convenient lactation rooms for travelers — at no extra cost for taxpayers or airports.” (It passed the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in June as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act and is awaiting full Senate consideration, the spokesman said.)