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In first, French presidential candidate gives birth during campaign / Photo: © AFP/File
In first, French presidential candidate gives birth during campaign
French Greens leader and candidate in the 2027 presidential election Marine Tondelier said Wednesday she had given birth to a son, emphasising that she would press on campaigning while prioritising the health of her child.
Tondelier, 40, was the first candidate in French politics to campaign while pregnant and, while acknowledging the challenges, she had expressed hope it would push issues including infertility and motherhood up the agenda.
Her boy Leon was born in Lens in northern France on September 18, Tondelier told AFP, saying the family had kept the news private for a few days.
He was born hours after Tondelier as Greens chief had attended a rare meeting at the Elysee Palace where President Emmanuel Macron had warned France's political leaders over the risk of Russian hybrid attacks.
She told AFP that the birth had gone "very well," adding that she would be "working differently" for a while and "trying to figure out how to balance a presidential campaign with a newborn, whose health and well-being come first".
Already the mother of a 7-year-old boy, Tondelier was confirmed as the candidate for the Greens on Monday. In December, the party will decide whether to maintain her candidacy or withdraw and throw the party's weight behind another left-wing figure.
Polls currently show Tondelier, who has the slogan "another Marine is possible!" in reference to far-right frontrunner Marine Le Pen, lagging well under five percent in the first round of voting.
She is planning Wednesday to take part in a video conference with her party and may even join a climate march at the weekend if her health and that of her baby allow.
The unplanned pregnancy followed a miscarriage and several unsuccessful attempts at assisted reproduction and in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which had put her plans for another child on hold.
She had carried on campaigning throughout her pregnancy while openly admitting to difficulties including vomiting in the toilets on a high-speed train.
"In the weeks ahead, we'll have to get creative to balance a presidential campaign, daily life with a newborn, and both of our health, which will come first," Tondelier wrote on X after the birth of her child.
"This campaign will also be an opportunity to talk about building the country which our children deserve," she said.
She added it would also be a chance to discuss issues including reproductive health, infertility and the difficulties experienced by some women in the postnatal period.
N.Wilson--SFF
