JD Vance speaks about wife’s pregnancy at March for Life rally
Vice President J.D. Vance addressed his wife Usha’s pregnancy announcement during a speech at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.
Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, announced the birth of their fourth child, a son, on July 19, making them the first vice presidents in more than 150 years to welcome a child while in office.
“We are thrilled to announce the birth of our baby boy, Alec Neil Vance, this morning,” the Vance family said on social media. “Usha and the baby are happy and healthy. Our children are overjoyed to meet their little brother.”
Usha Vance gave birth on July 19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The couple expressed their gratitude to the doctors and staff at the medical center and the White House medical unit.
The second couple already has three children. They have sons Ewan (9 years old) and Vivek (6 years old), and daughter Mirabel (4 years old). The couple rarely lets their children out in public.
The last vice president known to have fathered a child while in office was Schuyler Colfax, whose son Schuyler Colfax III was born in 1870, according to the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University and the Associated Press. Before that, Vice President John C. Calhoun had a son, William, in 1829, according to Clemson University.
In an interview with conservative podcast host Meghan McCain last summer, Usha Vance said she didn’t know if the couple would have more children after their daughter was born, but she didn’t rule out the possibility. “I would never say never,” she said at the time. She and her husband announced they were expecting their fourth child in January.
The vice president suggested in his recent memoir that his wife changed her mind about having more children after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated last September.
“I have been asking Usha to have another baby for years and she has been telling me for years that she already has, especially now that our public engagements have brought us national attention,” he wrote. “But something changed for Usha. Shortly after burying her friend, she became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy.”
Contributors: Francesca Chambers and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
