First comes love, then comes marriage, and much to the surprise of fans, Jeannie Mai and Jeezy have announced their first child together is on the way. The co-host of The Real exclusively shared her maternity photos with Women’s Health and naturally, opened up about her decision to get pregnant on the season premiere of the Emmy Award-winning talk show.
Mai reflected on how she said “so many defiant things” on previous seasons of The Real, including being adamant about never wanting children. In a 2014 clip, she discussed her first marriage and how initially they both agreed on not wanting children. However, seven years into their marriage, she noticed a shift in him—he now wanted children, but she still did not. The pair ultimately separated in 2017 and their divorce was finalized in 2019.
In a snippet from a March 2019 episode, Mai revealed she froze her eggs “just in case.”
Tearfully, when the 42-year-old spoke on her pregnancy during Monday’s (Sept. 20) season premiere, she shared, “Love can really change you.” She explained how both she and Jeezy “never truly felt safe” and “created a place where [their] happiness spelled out what safe looked like around us.”
Mai expressed, “As we started to fall more in this healthy love with each other, we said ‘I see having kids with you.'” She told Women’s Health that she and the “Soul Survivor” rapper “have been kind of saving this and hiding this for five months [and are] relieved to finally share the news.”
The couple went through the IVF process and a month before their March 2021 wedding, Mai miscarried. However, a week after their beautiful wedding, she learned she was pregnant. She stated, “It was the most beautiful sign that anything’s possible, that you’re not in control, and God has a plan.”
Jeezy has two children from previous relationships. Baby Jenkins is set to arrive before the end of 2021.
Check out the big baby reveal on The Real below.
Correction: 7:17 p.m. ET (Sept. 21, 2021) – An earlier version of this article misstated that Jeezy already has three children. He has two—Jadarius and Amra Nor—and is awaiting his third with Mai.