Fall of last year, Kehlani stirred up quite a bit of controversy after announcing she was pregnant. Preceding the pregnancy announcement, the 23-year-old singer had publicly been in a relationship with a woman. This news caused fans to make assumptions about her sexuality, specifically that she was coming out as being gay.
As a result of these assumptions, Kehlani’s since-deleted pregnancy announcement on Instagram attracted many hate comments––most of which implied that she was “pretending to be gay” to boost her career. The post created such a stir, that Kehlani took it down and decided to address the assumptions. She clarified that she actually identifies as queer, which to her means “I’m attracted to women, men, REALLY attracted to queer men, nonbinary people, intersex people, trans people.”
Kehlani has since also clarified that her pregnancy was planned, despite many assumptions. She also revealed that her baby’s father is her best friend and partner, Javie Young-White. White, who is also Kehlani’s guitarist, also identifies as queer. In reference to White, Kehlani posted “I am so honored to be given this gift by spirit, creator, and an amazing partner whom I trust with my body and life after a very traumatic experience that had me afraid of interacting with men as a whole for what I was sure would be forever (I’ll tell that story when it’s time).”
In the months since having to clear up many assumptions and controversies regarding her pregnancy, Kehlani has finally been able to welcome her baby to the world. On March 25, she took to Instagram to announce the birth of her baby girl, Adeya. In the post, she also mentioned that she decided to have an unmedicated home birth, calling it “the absolute hardest, yet most powerful thing” she’s ever done.
Javie Young-White also took to Instagram to write, “Adeya is here. Kehlani birthed her, standing up, right into my arms.” Later in the same post, he also says, “It’s a blessing to have purpose within such a healthy, willful family. We’ll be spending the next few weeks resting & falling deeper in love with each other. Thank you to all of you sending uplifting & expansive energy our way, not a drop goes wasted.”
Unmedicated home births have gained increasing popularity in recent months, specifically in the world of celebrities. Five months ago, Hilary Duff welcomed baby girl Banks Violet Bair with an unmedicated home birth. As did former Bachelor contest, Bekah Martinez with her baby Ruthie Ray just last month. Despite growing popularity, the method is still controversial, with some claiming that there is a higher risk of infant death in unmedicated home births than in planned hospital births.
Because of these reasons, Kehlani received backlash for her decision. This caused her to speak out on Twitter, defending her decision as one that she stands by making. She also stated that she in no way intended to use her experience to shame anyone else’s, which implies that some people were probably offended by her decision in some way.
Both Kehlani and Javie have used their platforms to ask that people respect their privacy in the coming days. They plan to spend less time on social media and more time together as they begin to welcome Adeya into the world and into their family.