Still, Da Brat can’t believe what her body just did.
“Look, this came out of my stomach,” she says, referring to her tiny baby who is sleeping soundly in the arms of her wife Jessica “Judy” Harris-Dupart at their home in Alpharetta, a suburb of Atlanta. “Every day I cry. I just look at him and cry because I’m so thankful.”
As part of PEOPLE’s new “My Extraordinary Family” story in this week’s issue, which comes out on Friday, the legendary rapper, radio host, and star of WE TV’s Brat Loves Judy is sharing the first photos of her son True Legend, whom she gave birth to on July 6 with Harris-Dupart by her side.
A month into being a mom, she can’t stop thinking about how far she’s come.
“I’m 49, and I have high blood pressure and am at high risk. “So many women much younger than me want kids but can’t have them, but I got pregnant and had a healthy baby,” she says with tears in her eyes. “It’s just a privilege. He is such a gift.”
The last few years have been full of good things for Shawntae Harris, who was born in Chicago. The star is best known for hip-hop hits from the 1990s like “Funkdafied” and for her iconic street style. In 2017, she met Harris-Dupart, 41, and soon felt forced to talk about her sexuality.
“I was in the closet for so long, I thought I’d never come out,” she says. “But I met someone who gave me the courage to live my own truth.” Now I’m married and happy.”
In fact, she and the founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope Hair Products got married in a beautiful way on February 22, 2022. Soon after, they decided to start a new family, and Harris-Dupart, who already had three grown children from a previous relationship, asked Da Brat to carry their child. Harris-Dupart says that even though her wife was skeptical at first, she “knew that the pregnancy itself would be something she would really appreciate.”
IVF treatments were done on Da Brat with eggs from Harris-Dupart and sperm from an unknown source. Then, after a very sad abortion, she got pregnant with their son.
“I think that God plans out our journey,” she says. “I’m glad God thought it was good for me to have him.”
She had a planned cesarean section and “no contractions.” The only time she felt pain was when she got the epidural.
“I never want to do that again,” she says with a laugh, “but for him it was worth it.” The rapper says that when she was giving birth, she “panicked a little bit.”
But Harris-Dupart was there to help people relax and DJ right then and there. “I asked her to play Biggie Smalls, but that didn’t help, so she played our love mix. I could sit back and not think.”
Now, the three of them live together at home and are getting ready to start a new line of hair care products for kids called Kaleidoscope Kids. The couple enjoys sharing the responsibilities of being a parent. “He made us closer,” says Da Brat, who adds that she and Harris-Dupart take turns getting up with True Legend in the middle of the night. “We always do his diaper changes together.”
She says that this is a very different life than what she had imagined for herself. “Who ever would have thought this? She says, “I’m Da Brat-a-tat-tat from 1994!” to hint at her tough hip-hop image. “I’m with a beautiful, powerful woman who makes me feel whole and makes me want to be a better person. I’m so happy to be a mom. I never thought I’d be where I am now, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ll never need anything else again.”