Gabrielle Giffords Was Trying To Get Pregnant Before She Was Shot

In his new memoir, Mark Kelly, the astronaut husband (a phrase that never gets old!) of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, tells the very personal story of Gabby’s recovery after being shot in the head in January. Among the many frank details the book reveals, there is one that stands out and makes the whole incident even sadder than it already was: Giffords, who at the time of the shooting was 41, had been trying to get pregnant when she was injured. She was undergoing fertility treatments and was hoping to be pregnant by February. She even had a doctors appointment scheduled for just two days after the shooting. Talk about heartbreaking!

It’s not clear whether having a baby is a dream she’ll be able to pursue once she’s recovered, but she has big plans for herself, regardless. Giffords wrote the last chapter of the book herself—it’s a single page of short sentences called “Gabby’s voice.” In it she promises, “I will get stronger. I will return.”