Now here’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time: Da Brat is pregnant with her first child at age 48. She and her wife of one year, Judy Harris-Dupart, first joked they were adding to their family as part of some product marketing, but then decided they wanted to actually add a human baby. (Judy already has three children). After some health struggles for both women, Da Brat is 18 weeks pregnant and they revealed her bump with a pretty cool gangster-style photoshoot, complete with fedora, pinstripes, feathers, and a cool car.
Da Brat is ready to reveal Da Bump!
The hit “Funkdafied” rapper and wife Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart are expecting a baby, the couple tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue.
“It’s been quite a journey,” says Da Brat, who admits that at 48, “there’s a lot of stuff we learned about women over the age of 40.”
“It started as a joke, we were like, ‘We’re extending our family!’ ” she says of the tongue-in-cheek marketing tagline for their collaboration. “But then we got a huge response. It was like, ‘Oh my God do we want to actually have kids, and if we do, girl, we better hurry up!’ ”
Harris-Dupart is already a mother of three prior to their relationship. For Da Brat, kids weren’t ever really a part of the plan. “I never thought I was going to have kids,” she says. “I just thought it wasn’t in the cards for me. I’ve had a great career, a full life. I felt like, because I didn’t get pregnant earlier on, then it just wasn’t going to happen for me.”
That is, until she met and fell for Harris-Dupart. “I started looking at life so differently,” says Da Brat. “I was like, I want a little me with you. Something special from the both of us that we can share and raise and love unconditionally.”
Still, she wasn’t keen on the idea of carrying a child. “I was like, nothing’s gonna come out of me!” Harris-Dupart was able to convince her otherwise. “We had a little tug-o-war in the beginning…but I felt like she should have the experience,” says her wife. “She is so nurturing.”
The decision for Da Brat to carry worked out for the best, given Harris-Dupart suffered major health complications following her egg retrieval procedure. But the rapper faced difficult health issues of her own, including having to undergo surgery to remove fibroids and polyps prior to her embryo transfer procedure.
Then came a heartbreaking miscarriage. “I had never been so excited about something that I didn’t even know I wanted,” says Da Brat. “I fell in love with the idea and then it was all snatched away from me.”
“Luckily,” she says, “we still had quite a few of her eggs left.” The couple, who chose an anonymous donor described as “an eager entrepreneur” from their cryo bank, is now 18 weeks pregnant. Firmly into her second trimester, Da Brat says, “It’s just a blessing. I’m excited!” She’s also exhausted. “I don’t have any cravings or nausea,” she adds, “but I’m always sleepy. It’s crazy!”
Reflecting on her tough persona in hip hop coupled with her happy news and bump reveal, “I think people are going to be shocked,” she says with a laugh. That said, she chose to embrace the dichotomy with a gangster-inspired pregnancy photoshoot. “I loved it,” she says.
It’s interesting that Da Brat talks about kids never being part of the plan until she met and fell for Judy. She doesn’t specifically say whether she wanted them or not, but does say she felt she had a career and full life and it just wasn’t in the cards, until she met Judy. It’s nice to hear another perspective because I think so often for female celebs a major interview talking point is how much they’ve always wanted to be a mom. And half the time it seems like they’re only saying that because that’s what’s expected. I did side-eye a bit the idea of Judy convincing Da Brat to carry the baby because Judy felt Da Brat should have the experience. It’s up to people to decide that for themselves! But it does sound like they both really wanted this and it’s wonderful that it’s working out for them after the health issues and miscarriage. From the article it sounds like it’s Judy’s egg and Da Brat is carrying the baby. Da Brat has a lot going on — she’s working on new music, cohosting a couple of shots, and the couple has a hair product line and a reality show. Anyway, congratulations to the soon-to-be parents!
That’s pretty amazing. She got her call later in life. Hope they’re happy forever.
I am going to turn 40 in March and never wanted kids until I met my husband, but we met late in life. When we married two years ago he was on board for kids but he just gave me a pretty patronizing speech of “we can’t do it now because you’re 40. You’re old.” Exact quote. Still struggling.
What?! You’re not old! And if you met him in your 30s, that is not “late in life”, unless you aren’t planning to live very long! I’m so sorry that your husband has this attitude, especially if he was on board previously. I hope everything works out for the best for you. It’s such a complicated decision in the best of circumstances.
I should have said “later in life”. This Mother’s Day is going to be hard. His parents live in town, his sisters have five children between them. He keeps reminding me that when his mother was my age she had a son (him) in college. Well I’m sorry, but I wasn’t married and having babies at 18, I was a college freshman and not in any place, mentally or financially, to raise a child.
My grandmother had a baby on purpose in her early 40s (no medical help, just the traditional way), and then an oops! baby when she was 49. She thought being perimenopausal meant it couldn’t happen. Oops.
So tell your husband from my grandmother that he’s being a gigantic jerk and he is also factually incorrect and needs to remove his head from his nethers.
LOL what changed in two years? Do we suddenly expire at 40? But joking aside, I’m sorry, That really sucks. I got unexpectedly pregnant at 40 for the first time in my life and ended up terminating the pregnancy. I could have gone either way but it was pretty clear that my partner didn’t want kids. That being said, he reassured me again and again that he would support me no matter what I decide. Four years later, I still have mixed feelings about my decision but ultimately it is what it is. Life is still wonderful and fulfilling without a child.
I was born when my mom was 43.
What does your husband mean by “too old?” Is he talking biologically like does he mean you’re not physically capable anymore? Or does he mean that kids after 40 doesn’t fit the life he’s looking for?
My own experience for some physical perspective: I just turned 39 earlier this month. I had two unplanned pregnancies late last year. The first one, I got an abortion at five weeks, the second pregnancy came a little less than two weeks later. I’m very close to your age and still clearly fertile.
Your body is yours so I can’t say what you’re capable of but just going off your age isn’t a smart way to go about that. Tell your husband I said so. If it’s something you think you want, go to the dr for an assessment.
Umm no!! I’m 41 and my doctor told me women are having kids later and later, she told me I’m in great health and have “plenty of time”, her exact quote. Your husband needs a thump on the head.
I had an oops accident first time baby just before I turned 40. I’m irregular as hell and conceived the first time I’d had sex in over a year.
No one who loves you should say “you’re too old” for ANYTHING you want to do.
I married at 36. My husband and I started trying for a baby when I was 38. When I hadn’t gotten pregnant by 40, I told him I wasn’t willing to keep trying past 41 (and I wasn’t willing to do IVF or any interventions) but I got a temp drop and we got the special pregnancy lube and I got a massage gun and started using it on my lower abs, around my uterus, softening up that fascia and clearing out old blood from the uterine walls.
Our 19 month old is lying next to me nursing and singing his version of the ABC’s.
Your husband’s lack of support and belief are super unhelpful. I’m sorry you’re navigating that. It’s a really tender time and experience and you deserve to be held gently.
I had a baby in my 40s. It is a lot of work, for sure, and probably would have been a bit easier on my body if I had gotten myself to where I was willing to try for a baby earlier in life, but this is my path and I’m happy with it.
Maybe your husband will come around, maybe not, but if having a baby is something you want then you should try. You won’t be alone, there are tons of us that did this at and after 40.
Aww, I hope you can figure it out. I had my second at 42 and dont regret it. I’m not saying it’s not tough, but being a parent is tough at 22 or 42. I really don’t think I’m any more tired than when I had my first and personally I wasn’t ready to be a Mom until my 30’s. Good luck!
I’m Sorry your husband is so insensitive about such a sensitive topic. My friend got married later than you and had her children at 41 and 43.
Incidentally, she (and her ex husband) thought *she* had fertility issues as she and they never had kids and decided not to pursue IVF, then she fell pregnant within a year of marrying her second husband.
you’re husband is incorrect youre not too long old !! i had my first living and thriving now baby at 45. I feel as though im a much better parent at 47 than if i had her younger. definitely not too old.
Yeah. I spent an afternoon chasing an 8-month-old last week. Cute as hell and I loved it but I’m almost 39. My back was complaining after that afternoon on the floor so I can’t even imagine having a kid now or 10 years from now! Maybe other women are just that fit, I’m sure as hell not. I want to lie down just thinking about it. LOL
I have ruptured cervical discs, two very messed up ankles and never jogged more than a two blocks without dying. Smoked for 20 years too.
Had a baby right before 40, natural birth zero complications, breastfeed 2 years, and now I still chase him around the house .
It’s shocking how much about maternity, birth, post-partum info is hidden, like poor men will be scared so we just banish this info from any kind of public knowledge. So what’s on TV is all we know.
What I’m trying to say is that “your body changes” doesnt even BEGIN to cover how much happens. Incl crazy/awesome hormones that physically affect your stamina, strength, flexibility… That “mama lion” thing is no joke. I couldn’t unscrew a jar without help before and suddenly after childbirth I can life 50 pounds of stroller, car seat, child in my arms with another 50lbs of stuff strapped to my bag. I can haul the lawnmower, run on 4hrs sleep for months, and multitask like I’m in a slow-mo sequence so every second lasts 10x longer.
All we hear is how weak childbirth makes women. It’s not wrong that women need more help and protection then. But we don’t get it. And post-partum, depression is all that’s acknowledged, not strength. Frankly I think women are depressed bc there is SO f-cking little help and culturally its all about “bouncing back” like you had a baby in a closet and need to come out looking fierce. If you don’t, you need meds 🙃. Meanwhile the survival of an incredibly fragile new human is 100% your responsibility.
I could rant for days so just going to stop now. But the answer is – when you bond with your baby, the oxytocin will enable your body to crawl around all day on no sleep and you’ll have the energy to do it again the next day. And the next.
You will find the energy because you have to. But my friend, the baby’s mother, is my age and while she was in better shape than I am before she had her, she says she knows for a fact that it would have been MUCH easier 10 years before. That’s not to say don’t have kids in your late 30s. She regrets nothing. But whether we like hearing it or not, age is a factor. I notice lack of sleep. I notice poor nutrition. Having a baby is hard work and I’m not up for it. Sure as hell not now. And frankly, reading about doing it all on 4hrs of sleep makes me check my birth control.
I saw someone say “I would rather chew sand than have a baby at 48.” and I totally understand.
I just had a baby at 41 and while my husband would love more, I told him my honeypot is permanently closed for baby business. Babies are hard on the body (whether carrying, birthing, or nurturing).
@emmi @yup,me – yeah for sure it’s easier when you’re younger. Everything physical is 😄. The thought of having a baby at 48 is terrifying! I guess my point is that it’s kind of terrifying at any age, and while some things like physical recovery after childbirth are definitely easier when younger, the hormone changes do help you through it.
And while I’m beating my older mom drum, I’ll add that there is an emotional benefit to being older. You’ve already lived more life so feel less like you’re “missing out” stuck at home with a baby. You have more emotional regulation so you’re frustrated less easily, calm for longer, problem solve a bit better. Pros and cons to both.
Same here. Had a baby at 41, do not regret it for even a minute, she brings me so much joy and it felt like I opened up new levels in my life that I never knew were there. But oh heck no am I doing this a second time. I can chase one, I can’t chase two.
My mom had me at 35. That was in the mid-80s, she was considere ancient. And I have a younger sister, too. It wasn’t a choice, they tried for years. She says it was the best thing because being older, you know your priorities, you know who you are, you have more experience in … life, basically.
All I’m saying is, for me, it’s a no. 🙂 A HELL NO to be more specific.
How is that woman 48? I would believe you if you said 28. She’s gorgeous.
She’s always been so beautiful. Funny thing is didn’t start looking like an adult until fairly recently. She’s always had a baby face. Had she gotten pregnant in her twenties or thirties would have looked like she was going to be on teen mom.
I love these stories! I think we need to hear more of them. I’m 45 with a 16 month old and it’s magical! Our baby girl is blessed with older chill parents who are financially stable.
So so def Dynamite 💕
Although I personally thought that Judy would be the one carrying, I was surprised that DaBrat is doing just that. All in all, I hope and pray that she has a safe delivery, and that they welcome a healthy and beautiful child! 💖👏🏾
GORGEOUS couple 🤩
No way she’s 48. She looks at least a decade younger, if not more. Very happy for her and her family.
Terrible, irresponsible, selfish!