First Pregnancy for Rightwing French Cabinet

Rachida Dati, the French justice minister appointed by President Nicolas Sarkozy to boost the visibility of ethnic minorities and women at the top of France's fractured society, announced yesterday that she was pregnant.

Dati, 42, the first Muslim woman of north African descent to hold a major French cabinet post, is one of the country's most high-profile ministers and is treated in the press as a glamorous celebrity.

She is the first woman in a rightwing French cabinet to be pregnant in office, turning the spotlight back on to Sarkozy's female appointments, after Spain's José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero this year stole his thunder by selecting a majority-female cabinet, including a pregnant defence minister.

Several French Socialist ministers have been pregnant in office, including Ségolène Royal when she was environment minister in the 1990s.

After speculation on the front covers of gossip magazines, Dati confirmed to Le Monde yesterday that she was expecting a child.

"I want to remain prudent, because it isn't yet safe. I'm still in the danger zone," she said, referring to the early stage of pregnancy. She said having a child was "fundamental" for her and would not affect her job. "It's not an illness."

When asked who the father was, she replied: "My private life is complicated and I'm keeping it off-limits to the press. I won't say anything about it." Dati is not married and had a brief marriage annulled when she was younger.

Statistics yesterday showed that just over half of all births in France, which has the EU's highest birthrate, are to unmarried mothers, with many couples opting for state civil partnerships instead.