Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle welcomed their first child together 19 months after the WNBA star was released from a Russian penal colony.
The couple announced in April that Cherelle, 32, was pregnant in a touching Instagram post, which showed them holding hands alongside photos of their baby’s ultrasounds.
And three months later, Brittney revealed that her baby is here and admitted that she is very happy to be her “father.”
“I’m very excited,” she said when asked about the pregnancy in an interview with CBS Sports’ We Need To Talk. “Well, I think I’ll just let it go… he’s here. Seven pounds, eight ounces. Yeah, that’s my man!”
Griner previously had twins with ex-wife and fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson in 2015, but the couple divorced just a year later.
Brittney Griner (right) and her wife Cherelle (left) welcomed their first child together
However, welcoming another child with Cherelle has reminded the 33-year-old just how great that feeling is.
“It’s amazing,” Griner continued. “They say that as soon as you see them, everything you thought was important goes away, and that’s literally what happens.”
“It’s a shame because I have to go, but at the same time he will understand.”
Brittney and Cherelle first got engaged in 2018, but four years later the former was arrested at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities claimed she was caught bringing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil into the country.
Griner was held in a detention center near Moscow until November of that year, before being transferred to an undisclosed prison.
Griner revealed the big news at WNBA All-Star week and admitted she is “super excited”
The WNBA champion and her wife announced they were expecting a baby in April.
Griner was infamously released from a Russian penal colony just 19 months ago.
She was then taken to a penal colony in Mordovia, a Russian region about 300 miles southeast of Moscow, to serve her nine-year sentence on drug charges.
Finally, in December 2022, the 6-foot-9 WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist was released in a prisoner exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout after spending 10 months in jail.
Griner recently re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury, her only WNBA team, ahead of this year’s Olympics in Paris.
She will participate in the WNBA All-Star Game this weekend before the league pauses for the Olympics later this month.