Usha Vance Explains Erika Kirk’s Impact on Her and JD’s Decision to Have Another Baby: ‘Very Moving’

While JD Vance and his wife, Usha, decided to welcome another child into the world on their own, Erika Kirk seemingly had an impact.

The vice president, 41, and second lady, 40, sat down for a joint interview on the Sunday, June 14, episode of CBS Sunday Morning, explaining the impact that the Turning Point USA CEO, 37 — whose husband, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot in September — had on their choice to grow their family.

“I think it really heightened JD’s sense that he’d been talking about this for a while, this sense that there was this possibility of having another kid whom he could love as much as the three that we had,” Usha said. “It really did crystallize for you, that sense that if you could have that other child, then you would have nothing to regret. And if we couldn’t have that other child, then we were very happy with the children that we had.”

“So it was very powerful, what she said about her own family, and certainly very moving to both of us,” Usha continued. “I think I had already started to open my mind to the possibility. I wouldn’t say that this was, for me, in any way, the decisive factor. But it came in the middle of a conversation that we were already having.”

In an excerpt from JD’s upcoming memoir, Communion — hitting shelves on Tuesday, June 16 — shared with the Wall Street Journal on Friday, June 5, the politician recalled a candid admission Erika made to Usha.

“As my wife held Charlie Kirk’s widow on the first day of her terrible sorrow, Erika told Usha between sobs that she regretted having only two kids with Charlie,” the politician penned.

“For years I had asked Usha to have another baby, and for years she had told me she was done — especially now that public service had elevated us into the national spotlight,” he wrote. “But something changed for Usha, and not long after we buried my friend, she became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy.”

JD and Usha married in 2014 and have since welcomed sons Ewan, 9, Vivek, 6, and daughter Mirabel, 4. The couple announced in a January Instagram post that they were expecting their fourth child, a boy, in July.