Verena Hubertz is pregnant: How other ministers and MPs have mastered the balancing act between politics and babies

Federal Minister of Construction Verena Hubertz (SPD) is pregnant and expects to give birth in January 2026. She is only the third federal minister in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany to become a mother during her term in office. However, the compatibility of top-level politics and young families has been a frequent topic of discussion in recent years.

Does that even fit together? Taking on political responsibility practically around the clock and simultaneously being there for one's children? A seemingly antiquated question to which many politicians have long since found a clear answer: Yes! And yet, the question has repeatedly sparked controversy.

In 2011, CDU politician Kristina Schröder became the first federal minister to have a child while in office. In 2017, she looked back on this time in an article for the website " Tagesspiegel Causa ." The question, she wrote, was not whether top-level politics and having children were compatible. The question was rather "whether one wants it under the conditions under which it is possible." Even after nights in which she often breastfed, she naturally sat in the federal press conference the next morning and faced critical questions from journalists - "including remarks about my 'pale complexion'." But she also canceled late-night television appearances and meetings with party colleagues. This lack of presence had damaged her. Spending even less time with her daughter would have been even more difficult for her, Schröder wrote in retrospect.

In 2015, four years after Schröder, her successor at the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Manuela Schwesig (SPD), announced that she was pregnant with her second child. After the birth of her first son, Schwesig explained at the time. After the birth of her second child, her husband would take over. That's part of being a modern family, she said. In 2017, shortly before her daughter's first birthday, Schwesig spoke to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about her balancing act between ministerial duties and motherhood. "My husband goes to the office one day a week, and then I try to work from home," she said. Then she mainly takes care of things that she needs to read and work on and doesn't make any phone calls. "And like many other parents, I prefer to spend the afternoon with the children and then work for another hour or two once they're in bed." The balancing act works well - when both partners take equal responsibility. And yet both she and her husband have had to publicly justify their parenting decisions. “That’s typical in Germany: no matter how you do it, you always have to explain yourself,” said Schwesig.

Reem Alabali-Radovan, the current Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, gave birth to a daughter in 2023 while still serving as Minister of State and Commissioner for Integration of the Federal Government. After the birth, she also announced that she intended to continue her work immediately after maternity leave.

The role of fathers in top politicians is also a recurring public topic. As SPD chairman, Sigmar Gabriel took parental leave in 2012 (but nevertheless remained politically active); as Vice Chancellor in 2014, he announced that he would take Wednesday afternoons off to pick up his daughter from daycare and spend time with her. He later announced that he would not run for chancellor because he wanted to spend more time with his family—but he eventually became foreign minister anyway. Gabriel's public handling of his dual role as a family man and top politician has brought him accusations of staging more than once.

Even in parliaments, there has been repeated debate about how much space there is – and should be – for children. The first baby to attend the inaugural session of the Bundestag in 2009 was the then four-month-old daughter of FDP politician Judith Skudelny. This initially caused confusion among the ushers, who were unsure whether it was even permitted. The public sometimes portrayed the baby's presence as a curiosity, while others praised it as a courageous step.

Since then, there have been some further developments in Germany regarding the compatibility of politics and family life, and in societal thinking about it. But not at the same pace everywhere: When Green Party politician and Thuringian state parliament member Madeleine Henfling took her newborn baby in a baby carrier to a plenary session in 2018, State Parliament President Christian Carius (CDU) expelled her. Babies were not allowed in the plenary hall, he argued, as stipulated in the State Parliament's rules of procedure. The session was adjourned, the Council of Elders convened, and agreed with the President's opinion. Henfling and her parliamentary group filed a lawsuit against the regulation, and in 2020, they reached a settlement with representatives of the State Parliament administration before the Thuringian State Constitutional Court. Since then, babies have also been permitted in the plenary hall in Erfurt.

Parental leave regulations like those that apply to employees do not exist for federal ministers or members of the Bundestag and state parliaments. For the latter, the basic rule is: they are only bound by their conscience, so at least legally speaking, they can take the time they need for their children. Even if it will probably never be quite so easy in practice in the future.