Eboni K. Williams is expecting her first child. The “Real Housewives of New York” alumna and the host of “TheGrio with Eboni K. Williams” announced in an exclusive with People magazine that she’s expecting a baby girl due August 16.
Williams, 40, told the publication she considers her baby a “one-of-one” because she became pregnant through the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process.
“I did one egg retrieval at 34 years old, not really having a clear intention on if I would use those eggs or when I would use the eggs,” she explained. “And six years later, that one egg retrieval led to one genetically normal embryo which led to one successful embryo transfer and — one pregnancy later — I’ll soon have, God willing, one beautifully healthy baby girl. So it really does feel like fate.”
While the attorney noted she underwent egg retrieval years ago, she told People she didn’t have a “real expectation around” becoming a mother. When she realized she wanted to use them, she said she was contemplating her life and legacy during the pandemic.
“I was really thinking I would never use them, whether I got married again or didn’t,” she said. “It was the pandemic and having some real existential conversations within my own self about legacy and life and love and the different ways in which I really wanted to explore family.”
She realized then she could redefine what family meant and that she didn’t have to be confined to the traditional ideals of motherhood.
“I really freed myself of the rigidness of what legacy, love, and family could look like,” she said.
Williams, a former public defender who’s currently also the host of the NAACP Image Award-winning podcast “Holding Court with Eboni K. Williams” and the presiding judge over the first-run syndicated daytime court show “Equal Justice with Judge Eboni K. Williams,” does not have a quote-on-quote “traditional” life. However, it’s one she’s ready to share with the next generation.
“It just started getting crystallized for me that I was not only going to be all right just in my own individual state but also that God was blessing me with a tremendous abundance of love and resources,” she maintained. “So I felt compelled to share this forward to the next generation — not just through mentorship, but through creating my own progeny and cementing my own legacy in this very unique way that only motherhood could offer.”
This news arrives a year after Williams first announced she was looking at single motherhood. While speaking to Access Hollywood in early 2023, she shared, “My biggest life update is that I’m actually pursuing a single motherhood journey.”
“I don’t want to jinx myself with sharing too many details,” she added, “but I’m deep into my process. I have embryos, and I’m looking to transfer later this year.”
In an Instagram post celebrating the news, Williams uploaded pictures from her maternity shoot with People magazine, including a shot of her baring it all. In the caption, she wrote, “Abundantly blessed and so excited to welcome my daughter to this world 🙏🏾💕.”
She concluded with the scripture Psalm 37:4, “HE will give you the desires of your heart.”