Elizabeth Holmes is the mother of two kids.
The disgraced founder of blood-testing company Theranos — who turned herself in on May 30 to begin serving out her 11-year prison sentence — shares her children with partner Billy Evans.
Holmes’ children were born in 2021 and 2023, as she was undergoing her criminal trial for fraud and conspiracy. Much of the information known about them has been obtained from court files.
Both of Holmes’ pregnancies coincided with her criminal trial timeline, which was delayed several times as a result.
The trial date, which was pushed back to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, was further moved when her counsel and prosecutors filed court papers in March asking a judge to move the date again due to her pregnancy. Holmes welcomed her first child in July of 2021.
Holmes was convicted in January 2022, and by the time of her sentencing in November, court documents revealed that she was pregnant with her second child.
Lynn Espejo, a criminal justice reform advocate and former federal inmate, told at the time that “her kids might see her for a few hours on the weekend[s]” during her time in prison, and added that that her incarceration start date “gives her time to have the baby and recover from the birth.”
When speaking on The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial podcast, Criminal Defense Attorney Caroline Polisi speculated that Holmes’ pregnancies were “going to have a bearing on the jury’s perception of her.”
“Not only is that going to help her in her trial, but it will really help her in the event that she is convicted,” the federal white-collar criminal DA added. “The fact that she is a young, new mother is going to play into any potential sentence.”
Meanwhile, defense attorney Jose Baez said it could work against Holmes’ case. “I really think that could backfire because once a juror feels that one side is trying to manipulate them over another, they’re not going to like it,” he said on the podcast.
In the end, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison.
Here’s everything to know about Holmes’ two kids and the timeline of her pregnancies.
According to court filings, Holmes’ trial — which was scheduled for July 2021 after having already been moved three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic — was pushed back again after she informed the court that she was pregnant.
Holmes’ pregnancy was first disclosed to the court in March 2021 when her counsel and prosecutors filed court papers asking a judge to move her trial’s start date given that she was due in July, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Leach, who was prosecuting the case, said it was “frustrating and disappointing to learn about this now.”
Holmes was eight months pregnant when she attended a pretrial conference in San Jose, California on June 15, 2021. At the time, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said they would provide a quiet room for Holmes to tend to her new baby during breaks in the trial.
Holmes welcomed her first child, son William Holmes Evans, on July 10, 2021. He was born in Redwood, Calif., according to birth reports obtained by ABC News that August.
Court filings obtained by the New York Times revealed that she became pregnant with her second child after being convicted in January, 2022.
In a sentencing memo, her partner, hotel heir Billy Evans, asked the court to give Holmes a lighter sentence, saying she would miss out on milestone moments with the pair’s two young children, The Mercury News reported.
“My heart is broken with the thought of spending any days away from Liz, for a future in which my son grows up with a relationship with his mother on the other side of glass armed by guards,” he said in the memo, according to the outlet.
Holmes herself tearfully told the court, “I regret my failings with every cell of my body,” The Mercury News reported.
In photos taken at her sentencing, Holmes was visibly pregnant, suggesting she would give birth before turning herself in to federal authorities in April.
In February 2023, the birth of Holmes’ second child was revealed in a motion by her defense team filed in federal court stating that because Holmes was not a flight risk, she should not be imprisoned while she appeals her conviction.
“Ms. Holmes has deep ties to the community: She is the mother of two very young children; she has close relationships with family and friends, many of who submitted letters at sentencing vouching for her good character; and she volunteers with a rape crisis and counseling organization,” according to a motion filed by Holmes’ defense team, CBS News reported.
She was scheduled to begin serving her sentence on April 27; however, she gave birth to her second child that same month.
In a profile in the New York Times published several weeks before Holmes reported to serve her sentence, it was revealed that the baby was a girl named Invicta (a Latin word meaning “invincible” or “unconquered”).