The celebrity baby boom: in the exciting world of entertainment and sports, nothing tops the joy of parenthood - personal experiences of famous African American women - Cover Story

Ebony, June, 1993 by Lynn Norment

THEY say that for women there is no joy comparable to motherhood, nothing that parallels the birth experience, no offering greater than the gift of life.

At the same time, fathers share a special pride and pleasure in seeing their newborns for the first time, in realizing that this precious, tiny life is their legacy and their responsibility--to nurture, to guide, to love unconditionally.

In recent years, the United States has experienced a baby boom. Since 1990, about 4 million babies have been born in the U.S. each year, up from about 3 million in 1970, and 3.6 million in 1980. An increasing number of couples are marrying, though still later than was common in decades past. And working women, married and single, are pausing to reflect on their lives and, in many cases, deciding to have children before it's too late.

And the 1990s baby boom has not bypassed the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, where courtship, marriage and family life are the stuff of which headlines are made. In the past year or so, a number of high-profile Black Americans have celebrated the birth of new babies. In fact, at one time Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Vanessa Williams, Janet Hubert-Whitten, Karyn White, June Pointer and Jody Watley were all pregnant at the same time, as was Juanita Jordan, wife of superstar basketball player Michael Jordan.

During this same period, male superstar Eddie Murphy welcomed a new offspring--a son--to his family, while Fresh Prince Will Smith and his wife rejoiced over the birth of their first child. And Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter James Ingram and his wife, Debbie, are looking forward to autumn and the birth of their sixth--yes, No. 6!--child.

For superstar Anita Baker and her husband, Walter Bridgforth, the birth of son Walter Baker Bridgforth in January was a special delight, for the talented singer had long wanted to have children. "We're just so happy we would skywrite a picture of this kid, if we could," she says exuberantly.

The Grammy Award-winning singer says little Walter, who weighed in at 8 pounds and 5 ounces at birth, is a "great baby" who enjoys his mother's lullabies. However, she adds that the baby prefers what she calls her "silly voice" to the beautiful contralto that has made her famous. "He likes it real high pitched. He's very specific," she says.

To make sure her son has plenty of room to run and play, Baker has moved into a spacious new lakefront home outside Detroit. And though she stayed home with her newborn the first six months, the popular singing mom is now back in the recording studio finishing up a new album scheduled for release this fall. Baby Walter will be right by her side in the studio and accompany her during some of her travels as well.

Juanita Jordan, who is active in Chicago's civic and social community, could give Baker some advice, for she is well schooled in the nature of the male child. She and her husband, Michael Jordan, superstar basketball player with the two-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls, have two energetic sons, Jeffrey Michael, 4, and Marcus James, 2. The newest addition to the Jordan household is baby daughter Jasmine Mickael, who was born last December.

"She's got Michael wrapped around her finger already," says Jordan. "He's very excited to have a daughter, and he spends a lot of time with her and the boys, as much as he can when he's home. He's good with the children, even changes diapers. He's very helpful with the kids."

She adds: "We always thought we'd have four children, but now we think three will be enough."

For singer/songwriter Karyn White and music producer Terry Lewis, three were not quite enough. Last November, the happy couple announced the birth of daughter Ashley Nicole, White's first child. The couple already had three children: Tremayne, 13, and Chloe, 8, offsprings from Lewis' previous marriage, and Brandon, 7, whom he and White adopted.

"I enjoy family life and children so much," says White, "that now I think we may have one more, and that'll be it."

White, whose 1988 debut platinum album was an enormous success, says that "something was still missing," despite the fame and fortune that came with stardom. "I'm a spiritual person, and my spirit was sad," she says. By contrast, White says she now enjoys the "roundness of having family life" that came with her marriage to Lewis in March 1991.

White adds that her husband is the kind of father she wishes she'd had as a kid. "I think he's a great father," she says. "He puts in the time with the children. He's very stern but very understanding, and he has a great temperament with children."

She says Lewis, who with his creative partner Jimmy (Jam) Harris writes and produces for her as well as for other recording artists, often takes baby Ashley with him to the recording studio. "She sits on his lap drooling on the board while he works at the console," explains White. "As everybody knows, he wears hats all the time, and she's taken to the same habit, wearing her hats."

Father and daughter just happened to have been born on the same date, Nov. 24.