“Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker and her husband, John Hughes, are expecting their second child together.
“John and I are thrilled to announce we are welcoming a second baby to our family with the help of another amazing surrogate!” Welker said Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show. “We hope that our news offers hope to others who are trying to build their own families.”
The baby boy is due on June 12 and will join big sister Margot, who turns 3 in June.
“Margot has told all of her schoolmates that her parents are getting her a baby brother for her birthday!” Welker, 47, said, adding that her firstborn plans to name her brother Lolo. (The couple said they haven’t yet chosen a name but have their “top contenders.”)
Welker, NBC’s former chief White House correspondent, made history last September when she became the first Black woman to moderate the Sunday public affairs program long anchored by Chuck Todd. The journalist has been open about her infertility struggle and her support for others who face similar circumstances. She welcomed Margot through surrogacy in 2021 and is working with a surrogate named Angelica this time around, describing her as a “literal angel on earth.”
Welker and Hughes first shared their surrogacy story in 2021, which included in vitro fertilization treatments for two years and learning that her uterus was not thick enough for childbirth. She has spoken to her daughter about her “incredibly special journey to this earth,” explaining “that most mommies get to carry their babies in their tummy, but Mama has a boo-boo, so she has a special friend who carried you, and is now carrying your baby brother.”
The “NBC Nightly News” fill-in anchor and her husband said they were determined to give their daughter a sibling and started “working on a second baby” in 2022. The process — which she described as a “long journey” — was full of setbacks and heartbreak and included losing embryos. But Welker said she’s proud that she and Hughes didn’t give up: “He has always been my rock and I credit our love with getting us through those tough times.”
