Da Brat announces her pregnancy with first child

Congratulations are in order as rapper Da Brat announced earlier this week that she and wife Jessica “Judy” Harris-Dupart are expecting their first child together. The couple let the public in on their exciting news on Tuesday in an exclusive interview with People Magazine, along with photos of the rapper showing off her bump.

Since their announcement, the couple have been open about their thoughts on extending their family, and subsequent pregnancy journey. While Da Brat didn’t think a child would be in her life plans, marrying her wife, who has three children from a prior relationship, changed her outlook.

“I started looking at life so differently,” Da Brat told People. “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.”

Da Brat and Harris-Dupart’s journey didn’t come without challenges, though. The rapper, 48, had to undergo surgery to remove fibroids and polyps before she could move forward with her planned embryo transfer. Later on, Da Brat experienced a miscarriage. “Luckily, we still had quite a few eggs left,” Da Brat said, and the rest is history. The rapper is now in her second trimester at 18 weeks.

Where are the best states for LGBTQ+ families to live?

Although starting a family is an exciting prospect, there’s a lot more to consider outside of baby names. Details like a labor and delivery plan, parenting styles, and where to settle down are a few integral parts of ensuring that a child is able to live a life full of love and happiness. The latter, specifically, can be stressful for any family, but particularly LGBTQ+ family units.

Despite movement toward equality and equity in the United States for queer individuals, there is still discrimination that members of the LGBTQ+ community face on both a social and political level. State legislation such as Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill” and ever-present violence against transgender people are just a few out of the many factors queer people have to consider when putting down roots.

Move.org did a study in order to find the friendliest states for LGBTQ+ families. They used a points system “based on the legal protections [the states] afford LGBTQ+ citizens and how many LGBTQ+ people reside in them. The points went from 1 (the worst possible score) to 100 (the best possible score).” They looked for laws including nondiscrimination laws, adoption and second/step parent laws and transgender health care laws. Through their system, they came up with seven key findings and a list of 10 states best suited for queer families. The top three include Washington D.C., with an overall score of 100; Massachusetts, with an overall score of 87.6; and California with an overall score of 87.3. Move.org also listed 10 of the worst states for LGBTQ+ families, which included Arkansas, Wyoming and South Carolina.

To read the full report and complete lists of best and worst states, visit Move.org’s website.

Roshae Hemmings is an arts and culture magazine journalist from St. Louis, MO. A graduate from the Missouri School of Journalism, Roshae has bylines in the Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine and 5280 Magazine discussing topics ranging from pop culture, social justice and eat and drink. She is a foodie at heart and enjoys eating food as much as learning about the story behind it. When she’s not working on a story, Roshae enjoys cooking, watching and analyzing reality TV, and spending time with family and friends.

This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Da Brat announces her pregnancy with first child."