Mario is no longer an expectant father; the 39-year-old is officially a first-time dad!
The “Let Me Love You” singer and his girlfriend, Esmeralda Rios, welcomed their first child on Monday (Jan. 26), a “healthy baby boy,” according to Mario. He shared the news via his Instagram Stories, complete with him rocking hospital scrubs and a mask, nicknaming himself “Doctor Barnett.”
“Women are God’s greatest creation cuz what I witness today was ONLY GODS work!” he wrote. “Healthy baby boy!”
Last August, Mario used Instagram to reveal he was soon to become a father, placing a hand on Rios’ growing baby bump and sharing why he couldn’t wait to meet his child.
The idea of fatherhood wasn’t a novel concept to the singer, who has been vocal about his own upbringing. In an interview with Atlanta’s V-103, he reflected on why he viewed bringing a child into the world as something he would do with intention.
“I don’t take having kids lightly,” he said. “Everybody I know [has] kids. Some of my friends [that are] younger have kids, some of my friends [that are] older have kids, and it comes with a lot of pros and cons. And I also grew up without a father. So, I want to do it right when I do do it. You know, I got time. So, I’m not rushing into that.”
Even while celebrating love, Mario had to address claims he didn’t love Black women after his relationship with Rios went public, and he reiterated time and time again that his love for Black women has never wavered.
“My grandmother, my mother, my family members, my aunts, a few of the Black women that I have dated in the past, my relationship with them were all different. I can’t compare one to the other,” Mario told Cam Newton during an appearance on the former NFL MVP’s “Funky Friday” podcast. “My grandmother was my hero. She was the contrast in my life when it came to understanding the importance of a Black woman, the strength of a Black woman, the soul of a Black woman, the relationship that a Black woman could have with God that was unwavering.”
