Candiace Dillard welcomed her first baby with her husband Chris Bassett.
The former Real Housewives of Potomac star, 37, gave birth to son Jett Maxwell Lee on Oct. 3, according to People after undergoing IVF to conceive.
Candiace, who was previously criticized for saying she feared having “light-skinned children”, revealed that Jett’s arrival had left her wanting to expand her family and wishing she had had children sooner.
She said: ‘He’s just the cutest little thing. Chris and I couldn’t be happier. It’s so cliché to say it, but it has brought so much joy into our lives in a way I could never have described before. It’s pure love!
‘Oh, I wish I had started sooner, because I already want more. And it’s a shocking feeling to admit because I doubted, was afraid, and doubted myself for a long time. All those circumstances related to becoming a mother, like being pregnant, raising a child, etc.? It really scared me. But it has been everything and more. I love it.
Candiace Dillard welcomed her first baby with her husband Chris Bassett; photographed in February
‘I wish I hadn’t waited so long. But I also don’t regret that I’m here now and that things turned out the way they did. And in a way, it’s comforting to recognize that I have no regrets, you know? “I have truly welcomed every part of this journey with open arms, just as it happened.”
Chris, 46, who Candiace married in 2018, is already father to Owen, 22, Mateo, 14, and Naia, 10, from two previous relationships.
She announced her pregnancy in April in an interview with Entertainment tonight.
‘I’m about 13 weeks, so I’m in the second trimester. “I think it’s been strange, but also really wonderful, to keep it to ourselves up to this point,” the mom-to-be told the outlet.
He added: ‘Our immediate family knows this. My mom, I told my mom on her birthday in February, my dad knows it, (Chris’s) parents know it, my brothers know it and that’s my core group, best friends, but other than that, It’s been like, kind of silent. I’m just growing a bun.
The couple got engaged in 2017 and walked down the aisle in 2018.
They documented their fertility journey on the popular Bravo television series, and Candiace noted that she and her husband wanted to become parents together before he turned 50.
‘I always wondered, how would I know when it was ready? And I always felt like part of my anxiety was that I wasn’t sure I knew it, and when I did know, it was undeniable,” she shared.
The former Real Housewives of Potomac star, 37, gave birth to son Jett Maxwell Lee on Oct. 3, according to People after undergoing IVF to conceive.
They documented their fertility journey on the popular Bravo television series and Candiace noted that she and her husband wanted to become parents together before he turned 50; photographed in 2021
‘I woke up and realized I was never going to be 100 per cent ready. I just had to trust the process and my doctors, stop being afraid and just do it,” Dillard continued.
She underwent IVF in January after freezing her embryos two years ago.
Two weeks later, she said, “Our doctor called us at 8 a.m. and told us we’re pregnant.”
The husband and wife had a male embryo and a female embryo, but they decided to let their doctors choose the sex and they still don’t know what they will have.
‘We did all the tests. “Obviously, we wanted something healthy and I said, listen, let’s take the highest quality egg and we’ll put it in there, and this is the only surprise in this whole experience, which we don’t know about yet,” Bassett. explained.
He added: “I have to make sure I stay engaged, because I have to be very supportive of her and she will need that at all times.”
“So, that’s what I’m looking forward to, just sharing it and experiencing it with Candiace and seeing where it goes.”
In March, Dillard officially announced her departure from Real Housewives of Potomac after six seasons on the hit Bravo reality show.
In March, Dillard officially announced her departure from Real Housewives of Potomac after six seasons on the hit Bravo reality show.
In an official statement to People magazine, the star indicated that she would be leaving the series to focus on other professional projects.
“As I embark on a new chapter after six extraordinary years with The Real Housewives of Potomac, I am filled with gratitude for the enriching friendships, personal growth, and moments of introspection that have defined this journey,” she said.