Briana Williams isn’t the first law student to get pregnant while in law school, but she has made the most of her experience as a single mom. Williams, who graduated from Harvard Law School in May, with her one-year-old daughter in her arms, got pregnant in her second year. She wrote about the experience online.
“I went into labor in April – during final exam period,” she wrote. “I immediately requested an epidural so that my contractions wouldn’t interfere with my Family Law grade. And, with tears in my eyes, I finished it. This ‘biting the bullet’ experience is quite quintessential of my time at Harvard.”
Williams also wrote a column in USA Today about her experience:
“When I got pregnant during my second year at Harvard Law School, I was made painstakingly aware of the professional woman vs. homemaker dichotomy that is still present in today’s society. Among some of my peers, instructors, and even prospective employers, I saw the doubt of my ability to succeed in their eyes as they’d hesitantly offer their congratulations on my pregnancy.”
Williams said she brought her daughter to class often, as well to meetings with professors.
“I graduated law school in May 2018 with my dream job and having contributed to every organization that I’d planned to. I carried my daughter across the stage with me, an act meant to assert that choosing to become a mother could not prevent me from receiving my diploma. It was not about proving myself to others, it was about proving myself to me.”
