Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court is an exciting development for women like me. We see in her a model of success and achievement precisely in the areas in which we ourselves struggle to succeed daily. Like her, we live our lives in a not-so-easy-to-achieve balance. On one side, professional work which we love and which we try to perform with excellence. On the other, a cheerful and bustling motherhood that presents us with our greatest challenges, but also our highest joys.
Barrett, by all accounts, has not only struck that precarious balance but has built a life in which both sides are functioning marvelously. Her professional accomplishments are exactly what you’d expect from someone being considered for one of the highest (and most intellectually demanding) posts in government service. Graduating first in her law school class, a clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a stint in a prestigious D.C. law firm, then a law professor at the University of Notre Dame — where she is a prolific academic. Finally, she was appointed to be a judge on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where she has written over 100 decisions over the last 2 1/2 years and is reported to be admired universally by her clerks and colleagues.
These are all very impressive accomplishments and certainly qualify her for the lofty post that she may be called to fill. However, the fact that she has, at the same time, lived her home life so generously is remarkable.
If you haven’t yet heard about life at the Barretts’, you will be bowled over. She and her husband have seven children. Five of them are their biological children, and two of them were adopted from Haiti after being orphaned. One of the children, the youngest, has special needs. She is, by all accounts, a hands-on mother, a devoted wife, a good friend to many, and an active, beloved mentor to aspiring female lawyers. Somehow, apparently, she even finds time to go to a CrossFit-style gym to stay healthy and energetic. She is also a woman of strong and vibrant faith.
In many ways, I identify with Barrett. I’m a professional woman of about the same age and a practicing physician. During years of arduous training, my husband and I had four children and adopted another from China. Like Barrett, I chose an intense calling that demands the highest dedication and, at the same time, a full and generous home life. Also like her, it is my faith that grounds me and sustains me and my faith community that surrounds our family with love.
America is full of women who can similarly identify with the balancing act of professional mothers such as Barrett. To some extent or another, they have chosen to strive to “have it all.” They have grasped at the chance to fulfill all the varied hopes of their lives, both personal and professional. They have wanted to express all the lovely facets of their femininity, especially motherhood, and they have struggled to confront the difficulties that have arisen with grace.
Sometimes, the media dismissively call a woman like this a “soccer mom.” But it would be more fitting to call her a hero. It’s very likely she has scrambled to make space in her schedule and stayed up way too late getting some extra work done, so that she can be there when her son eagerly scans the sidelines for her beaming face at the soccer match.
It will be an exhilarating moment if Barrett is indeed confirmed to sit on the Supreme Court. The hardworking mothers of America will have someone on the court they can heartily admire, knowing as they do just how demanding and fulfilling her life is, and fully being able to appreciate the grace with which she lives it.
Grazie Pozo Christie is a practicing radiologist in Miami, a policy adviser for the Catholic Association, and the host of the EWTN radio show Conversations with Consequences.
