VH1 Basketball Wives star Tami Roman announced last week during the airing of the Love & Hip Hop Atlanta: The Afterparty episode that at 45-years old, she is 6 weeks pregnant with the baby of her beau, 28-year old Houston trucking company owner Reggie Youngblood.
In an exclusive with Necole Bitchie, Roman explained why she essentially gave in to her boyfriend’s desire to have a child on his own.
It was not long ago, during an episode of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars when the mom to two adult children shared that she was not interested in having more kids and Youngblood said he wouldn’t be cool with adopting but rather “needed” a child of his own.
“I am in a committed relationship with a younger man who has never had children. In an effort to compromise for the benefit of our relationship, and because I am in love with this person, I decided to have a child with him and I am happy I made the decision to do so,” the actress who starred in the short-lived TV show Extant alongside Halle Berry said. “Marriage Bootcamp helped us a great deal in all aspects, especially communication. It showed us that we do love each other and are in it for the long haul.”
Some in social media have criticized her for choosing to have a baby so late in life, but Roman questions all the “hating” on her decision and points to other celebrities who successfully had children later in life without similar public admonishment.
“As it pertains to Halle, I looked at her as inspiration and said she did it, Alyssa Milano did it, Gwen Stefani did it, Julianna Margolis did it… Why not me?” the Real World: Los Angeles alum questioned. “People put more emphasis on my age when this is not new, other women have done it and received nothing but congratulations, [so] not sure why my announcement was viewed so negatively.”
Roman is mom to two very beautiful daughters 18-year old Jazz and 20-year old Lyric with NBA player Kenny Anderson.
She confesses that says didn’t struggle to conceive and did not receive any fertility treatment, neither froze her eggs. She said she was surprised it happened given the fact she was pre-menopausal at the time.
“It was the grace of God,” Roman credits for being able to conceive without medical intervention.
The reveal last week came surprisingly early in her pregnancy, at just 6 weeks along, but says she hopes she doesn’t “jinx herself”.
We at Bellyitch pray and hope she does in fact have a complete healthy pregnancy, labor and delivery. As Roman said in her Necole Bitchie feature, “babies are blessings.”
The former model is also currently designing her own cosmetic line and will star in a new sitcom called The Assist , co-executive produced by celebrity blogger Karen Civil and Ernest Dukes, while appearing occasionally on the next season of Basketball Wives: LA.
She told Necole Bitchie she won’t be appearing on the next season of the original Basketball Wives which is based around the lives of wives in Miami, Florida.
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