Da Brat and her wife Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart have maintained that the reason they did not choose a black sperm donor was that there were too few options.
The couple faced a barrage of criticism from trolls who believe they chose a non-black donor out of racial preference.
However, Jesseca, 41, whose egg was used, and Da Brat, 48, who is carrying the baby, have repeatedly clarified that a shortage of black donors drove their decision.
A recent episode of their reality show Brat Loves Judy saw the couple meet with their fertility doctor and weigh their choices.
When the results of Jesseca’s genetic testing were taken into account, the couple had only 224 donors whose samples they could use — only one of whom was black.
Baby on board: Da Brat and her wife Jesseca ‘Judy’ Harris-Dupart have insisted that the reason they didn’t choose a black sperm donor is that there were too few options
Their fertility specialist Dr. Obehi Asemota told them that “there are not enough black donors – black sperm donors, black egg donors.
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Da Brat, whose legal name is Shawntae Harris-Dupart, then joked that the only black donor available to them looked “like Jiminy Cricket.”
She repeated the Jiminy Cricket equation in an interview with The carrotlaughingly saying, “I was like, ‘I’m sorry, but that wouldn’t be my choice.'”
While discussing the donor they did use, she said, “Since we didn’t have much to choose from, he certainly wasn’t black.” But I think we did a great job picking. He’s handsome, he’s tall, and I think he’ll look great with my wife’s egg.’
Social media users were quick to take offense at the Jiminy Cricket jibe and began to theorize that the pair simply preferred not to use a black donor.
An exasperated Jesseca responded to the furor on her Instagram this week, writing, “So, as a mother of 3 beautiful black children and even a black grandchild I want to CLARIFY S*** to prevent this STORYLINE from continuing that we choose our donor on appearance and that we didn’t want a black donor.’
She laid out a seven-point statement for her and Da Brat’s choice that began with, “1) WE HAVE NO IDEA THAT THE CHANCES OF A BLACK DONOR WOULD BE NONE 2) that I was a carrier of so many conditions 3) that our window was SOOOO thin and such a high risk because of age and more’.
Jesseca added: ‘4) with my genetic testing I am the carrier of 4 conditions, which reduced our chances of getting a black donor to 1 person and that 1 person had very limited info/portfolio to judge on…..including BACKGROUND’ .
Mother-to-be: Jesseca, 41, used egg was used, already has three children and a grandchild, while Da Brat, 48, who is carrying the baby, will be a first-time mother
So in love: Da Brat and Jesseca, pictured in August 2021, went through the aisle in February 2022 and joyfully announced a year later that they are expecting their first child together
She commented: ‘5) I’m honestly disappointed with the storyline more than anything, but understand the lack of knowledge about IVF in our community, because a lot of people don’t even realize all the things involved in the journey, including LACK OF BLACK DONORS, genetic testing, age when most eggs are gone, etc’.
Jesseca acknowledged: ‘6) the headlines are misleading but also my wife made an unsavory joke and now it’s attached to the headline and it seems like we choose strictly on looks and we didn’t try to find a black donor at all when in fact not only did we try, but we waited to see if more would emerge over time – but we had to stay within the window we had to choose.”
She pointed out, “Plus, just because you have money, people think that ANYTHING is possible, but no amount of money is changing the inventory of the cryobanks.”
Further, Jesseca wrote, “7) making our baby with a HEALTHY baby first mentality once we learned all the things was a hard decision and of course we didn’t want to add any other stigmas or anything to our child but we had SERIOUSLY limited options .’
Finally, she offered, “Thanks to all the people who support us on our journey and I really hope this raises the awareness of more black men to donate.”
Da Brat and Jesseca went down the aisle last February and joyfully announced a year later that the former is pregnant with their first child together.
“I never thought I would have children,” Da Brat confessed People. “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 hadn’t gotten pregnant before, it just wasn’t going to happen for me.”
However, her relationship with Jesseca pushed her to “look at life so differently.” I was like, I want a little me with you. Something special from both of us that we can share and nurture and love unconditionally.
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