Da Brat is pregnant and expecting a baby with her wife, entrepreneur Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart.
“It’s been quite a journey,” the 48-year-old rapper told People on Tuesday. Da Brat is 18 weeks pregnant, well into her second trimester, the outlet said. She has no nausea or cravings, but said she cries easily and is “always sleepy.”
The women, who got married in February 2022, documented the early days of their path to fertility in Season 2 of WEtv’s “Brat Loves Judy” after posting that same month on Instagram — as a gag about a planned collaboration on hair products — that they were “EXTENDING the family.”
“It started as a joke. ... But then we got a huge response,” Da Brat said. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, do we want to actually have kids, and if we do, girl, we better hurry up!’”
Her wife, 41, has three kids from a prior relationship and had some strong feelings about who should carry their child.
“We had a little tug-o-war in the beginning … but I felt like she should have the experience,” Harris-Dupart told People. “She is so nurturing.”
As revealed on their reality show, Da Brat sought a second opinion after the rapper was told she had fibroid tumors and couldn’t carry a child to term. The second doctor said the fibroids weren’t that big of a deal and that the performer could carry as long as she had them removed first.
Picking a donor — all of whom listed super-positive attributes in their profiles — was also documented on “Brat Loves Judy.” The hip-hop artist told a longtime friend, “I think our child should be musically inclined. I don’t want no child that ain’t got no rhythm.” The kid didn’t need to be a rapper, she said. She just hoped that her baby would grow up with an appreciation for music.
The women used Harris-Dupart’s eggs and ultimately selected a donor who represented himself as an “eager entrepreneur.” There was one miscarriage, but they moved ahead with another one of Harris-Dupart’s fertilized eggs, People reported.
The hormonal stimulation used to spark Harris-Dupart’s egg production had a scary major side effect, the couple revealed on Sherri Shepherd’s talk show Monday. She wound up with blood clots in her lungs and an enlarged heart after suffering ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.
“It was very scary,” Da Brat told Shepherd. “Can you imagine feeling like you’re going to lose your wife? She called her kids to tell them she loved them, which really freaked me out. Like, I can’t lose you right now.”
Da Brat came out publicly as a lesbian in a March 2020 Instagram post about the overwhelming early birthday gift she received from her wife: a white Bentley with red interior and custom-ordered red bow.
“I’ve always been a kind of private person until I met my heart’s match who handles some things differently than I do,” wrote Da Brat, whose real name is Shawntae Harris-Dupart. “Thank you baby @darealbbjudy for far more than this incredible birthday gift. I have never experienced this feeling. It’s so overwhelming that often I find myself in a daze hoping to never get pinched to see if it’s real so I can live in this dream forever.”
In the caption on a complementary post, her then-girlfriend wrote, “I’ve never been SOOOO happy and honestly think that it’s not only because of our connection but also because we really been to ourselves. But then all these videos keep popping up like we hiding ... But WE BE IN PUBLIC ... why is y’all hiding to get footage. My better half, my forever, my twin flame.”
The couple’s continued path to motherhood will be part of “Brat Loves Judy” Season 3. An air date hasn’t been announced.
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