Eboni K. Williams, star of “The Real Housewives of New York City” and “Equal Justice with Judge Eboni K. Williams,” is pregnant and expecting her first child. In an exclusive interview with People magazine, the 40-year-old reveals that she conceived her daughter, due on August 16, via IVF.
Two years ago, Williams decided to use her frozen eggs to pursue motherhood through sperm donation and in vitro fertilization (IVF). She reflects on the journey, saying, “Anybody who’s gone through IVF or attempted IVF will tell you so many things have to go right for the final result of this journey to be a baby. That’s why I’ve called this ‘my remarkable miracle,’ because it really does feel like I’ve been the recipient of some very enormous favor from God above.”
At 34, she froze her eggs without a clear plan. Now, she marvels at the outcome: “…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.”
Motherhood wasn’t always part of Williams’ plan. ” I was not the little girl that grew up fantasizing about having kids and what I would name them and all of that,” she says. “That was not my dream or fantasy. I had no real expectation around it.”
During the pandemic, she had deep conversations with herself about legacy, life, and family, which made her reconsider traditional motherhood.
“I really freed myself of the rigidness of what legacy, love, and family could look like,” she reflects. “Those are the three pillars I reassessed, and it helped shake me from this idea of, ‘I have to have it this way on this timeline everyone else is following.'”
As her career took off, Williams realized she could provide a stable and secure environment for a child.
“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. 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.”
Williams has learned to silence societal pressures. “There will always be that voice that says, ‘Maybe I should have waited to meet a man and remarry before I had a baby? Maybe I should not be trying to do this alone.’ But f— that!” she says. “I’m not waiting. I’m 40 years old. I’m not waiting to build assets. I’m not waiting to build my career. I’m not waiting to travel. And I’m certainly not waiting to start a family.”
