In a world where people's pregnancies are well-documented on social media and a pregnant celebrity can't set foot outside without "flaunting her baby bump," one woman has managed to stay under the radar. Feminist icon and author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie casually revealed in an interview with the London Financial Times that she is a new mother. She practically let the news slip in passing when telling the reporter about the virgin cocktail she was enjoying over lunch.
"This is just very sugary, very sweet," she said. "I would probably have a glass of wine, but I’m breastfeeding, I’m happy to announce." And there you go! Just like that. “This is the first time I’m saying it publicly," she continued. "I have a lovely little girl so I feel like I haven’t slept… but it’s also just really lovely and strange." This is Adichie's first child with husband Ivara Esege.
The We Should All Be Feminists author also spoke about the expectation that women "perform" their pregnancy — and that her resistance to doing so is what kept her pregnancy private. “I have some friends who probably don’t know I was pregnant or that I had a baby," she said. "I just feel like we live in an age when women are supposed to perform pregnancy. We don’t expect fathers to perform fatherhood." The new mom makes an excellent point.