Elizabeth Holmes has made headlines for her conviction on multiple counts of fraud, but she’s also a devoted mother of two children with her husband, William “Billy” Evans. The Theranos founder, who is currently serving a reduced 9-year prison sentence (down from 11 years and 3 months), gave a rare interview from Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas, where she detailed her prison schedule and how life behind bars is not meant for humans.
“Human beings are not made to be in cells,” Holmes said to PEOPLE on Wednesday, February 12. “It goes so far beyond understanding. I’m trying really hard not to tear up right now. I’m trying to grow, as every moment matters. And if one person’s life can be touched trying to help them in a crisis, it matters.”
Two years ago, in an attempt to appeal her case, her defense team revealed that her second child was privately born, in a motion filed in federal court, according to CBS News. The team presented the new child as a reason she shouldn’t be imprisoned while she appealed her conviction, but the request was not granted.
“It kills me to put my family through pain the way I do,” Holmes added. “But when I look back on my life, and these angels that have come into it, I can get through anything. It makes me want to fight for all of it.”
Find out more about her and Billy’s children below.
William Holmes Evans is Elizabeth and Billy’s first child. He was born in July 2021, two years after the lovebirds were married in a private ceremony. She announced the pregnancy in March 2021 and since she was already arrested for fraud at that point, the pregnancy caused the trial to be delayed, via ABC News. The trial had also been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but once it started after Elizabeth gave birth, the judge allowed a quiet room on the premises that allowed the new mom to spend time with her son during breaks.
Amid her pregnancy news, biotech professional, Anne Kopf-Sill, admitted she thought she purposely started a family to get a lighter prison sentence. “I think she is hoping to get a lighter sentence,”she told KRON4. “Everyone feels sorry for children that have to grow up without both parents. Even though they may be unsympathetic to Elizabeth … there still is feeling for doing something for innocent children.”
