Incarcerated Elizabeth Holmes Breaks Silence On Having Kids Amid Her Legal Woes And 'The Optics'

Elizabeth Holmes may be guilty of running a fraudulent company; however, according to the mother-of-two, her business ethics have nothing to do with motherhood.

The disgraced biotechnology entrepreneur recently set the record straight about welcoming two children amid her legal woes. She denied the popular narrative of using her kids to escape a harsher punishment, claiming the timing was fate.

Elizabeth Holmes fell from grace in 2018 after her company Theranos' blood-testing technology was revealed to produce inaccurate results. She and her former business and romantic partner, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, were indicted for deceiving investors.

The former tech mogul addressed her motherhood experience in her first interview from the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. She refuted the claims of using her pregnancies to avoid jail time and gain the public's sympathy, saying:

"I know how the optics look, but I always wanted to be a mother. I wanted to have children, be a mom. I truly did not think I would ever be convicted or found guilty. I kept talking to my lawyers, and they also assured me we would never get this far."

Holmes stressed that motherhood wasn't a ploy to escape punishment, telling PEOPLE, "It wasn't planned, and I can't worry about what others think. It's just when the timing happened." She welcomed two children, a son named William and a daughter named Invicta, with her longtime partner Billy Evans.

The narrative of Holmes using her pregnancies to escape punishment stemmed from the delays in her criminal prosecution. The case was initially delayed three times because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was further delayed by her first pregnancy.

While eight months pregnant with her son, Holmes attended a pretrial conference on June 15, 2021. At the time, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila promised to provide a quiet room for the expecting mother to rest during breaks in the trial.

Holmes welcomed her son William just weeks before her fraud trial began. She was convicted in January 2022, with her sentencing scheduled for November, but the former businesswoman shocked the court by revealing her second pregnancy.

Holmes met her partner Evans, a hotel chain heir, at a rooftop charity event in October 2017. A year later, he proposed and started a family with the inmate despite her legal woes. Following the revelation of their second child, Evans wrote a heartfelt letter to the sentencing judge, hoping for a lighter sentence.

He noted how Holmes's criminal prosecution had impacted their lives, imploring the judge to spare his fiancée so she wouldn't miss their children's milestone moments. "My heart is broken with the thought of spending any days away from Liz," part of Evans' message read, adding:

"For a future in which my son grows up with a relationship with his mother on the other side of glass armed by guards. The gravity of time without her is hard for me to comprehend."

Holmes's defense team also cited her "two very young children" in its argument in February 2023, stressing that she was not a flight risk as a mother. Eventually, the mother of two reported to prison in May 2023, months after welcoming her daughter.

Holmes recalled taking two breast pumps to prison in May 2023, noting she had stressed the importance of breastfeeding her then-3-month-old daughter to the guards. "I wanted my daughter to have her mother's milk. It was important to me because it was a way to love her in here," she explained.

The former tech billionaire reflected on the experience with gratitude, saying: "I received a considerable amount of time I wasn't expecting. I always wanted a big family; Billy wanted even more kids. It was such a beautiful experience in such a horrible time."

"It pains me that I am behind bars, and I'm not there for all the moments that matter in their life. People can think what they'd like about me, but it just happened, and it's the happiest moment in my life. I love them," Holmes concluded.

Although Holmes could not spend quality time with her two children, The Blast reported that she had found someone to fill the space in her heart with friendship. In 2023, Chris Giovanni, a representative for Jen Shah, revealed the women had formed a close bond in prison.

The rep claimed the former "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" assumed a motherly role toward Holmes, noting she gave the latter "a lot of advice" and even got to meet her baby daughter. "They're friends. They're both rehabilitating and have bonded over being on this journey of positive change," Giovanni said.

"Their situations brought them together, and they have a good understanding of one another. They're getting through it together," the rep added. Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2022 and was given a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence in January 2023.

Elizabeth Holmes received an 11.25-year prison sentence but got two years taken off for good behavior. She is slated for release in 2032.