‘Seeking Sister Wife’: Dannielle and Garrick Merrifield Introduce New Baby After Surprise Pregnancy Announcement
Garrick and Dannielle Merrifield have welcomed a new family member – but it’s not a new sister wife. The Seeking Sister Wife couple confirmed that they welcomed a new baby last year after a secret pregnancy.
Dannielle Merrifield shares unexpected pregnancy news
On the April 22 episode of the TLC show, Dannielle made a shocking announcement: She was having another baby.
The unplanned pregnancy came as a huge surprise to Dannielle, especially because she and Garrick were in a rocky place in their relationship. When she learned she was expecting, Garrick was actually in the midst of a month-long trip to Brazil ahead of his planned wedding to future sister wife Nathalia. Given how tense things were between them, Dannielle wasn’t sure he even planned to come home to Colorado.
“I could be a single parent,” she told her friend. “Cause I don’t know if we’re gonna stay together.”
A nervous Dannielle eventually told Garrick about the baby on a video call. The news left him speechless for a few moments.
“Well, that’s a surprise,” he said with a laugh. “Children are a blessing from God … I definitely didn’t expect that.”
A tearful Dannielle told Garrick that she didn’t think she could travel to Brazil for his wedding to Nathalia. He said he was disappointed but didn’t suggest delaying the marriage or coming home to support Dannielle.
‘Seeking Sister Wife’ stars introduce their new baby
While Seeking Sister Wife fans just learned about Dannielle’s pregnancy, the little one actually arrived nearly a year ago. Leia Lilly Melisa Merrifield was born on May 17, 2023, Dannielle shared on Instagram on April 23. She was born at 1:22 p.m., weighed 8 lbs, and was 21 inches long.
In her Instagram Live, Dannielle said it was difficult to keep quiet about the baby news for so long.
“It is so hard not to talk about your kids,” she said. “Your kids are part of you.”
She reiterated that a third child was “not what we expected or planned.” Dannielle’s first two kids were born when she was in her early 20s, and she didn’t anticipate having any more children.
“We thought we were done,” Garrick chimed in. “We thought all future babies would be from a sister wife.”
For Dannielle, being an older mom came with challenges.
“Pregnancy at 35 is a lot harder than pregnancy at 20, for sure. I had some preterm contractions at about 19 weeks and was hospitalized to get things under control,” she told People. “It was super scary because I didn’t have any problems in my previous pregnancies with our boys.”
Though Garrick and Dannielle have gone public with their new baby, they’re staying quiet about the status of their relationship with Nathalia. It’s not clear if Garrick went through with the wedding or if the relationship ended, perhaps after Nathalia learned Dannielle was having another baby.
Seeking Sister Wife airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC. Episodes also stream on Max.
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