JD and Usha Vance have spoken about how comments from Erika Kirk about her own family helped shape their thinking on having another child, with the couple now expecting their fourth baby in late July.
The vice president addresses those discussions in his forthcoming book, writing about the period after the death of Erika’s husband, Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed during an appearance at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.
JD and Usha appeared together on CBS Sunday Morning on June 14, where they discussed the new release, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which is set to be published on June 16.
During the interview, the 41-year-old shared that Erika’s reflections on only having had two children with Charlie stayed with him and became part of a broader conversation he and Usha were already having about expanding their own 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, 40, said.
She said the moment helped bring clarity to their decision-making, while also stressing that they had already been discussing the possibility of another baby.
“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.”
Usha added that Erika’s experience was not the sole reason behind their choice, but it arrived at a meaningful point in a conversation they had already begun.
In an excerpt from the book, JD describes how he had wanted another child for some time before Usha changed her mind.
“For years, I’d asked Usha to have another baby, and for years, she told me she was done, especially now that public service had elevated us into the national spotlight.
“But something changed for Usha, and not long after we buried my friend, she became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy.”
Earlier this year, the couple confirmed in a joint Instagram statement that the baby is expected in late July.
They are already parents to three children: Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel Rose.
Usha also reflected on the impact Erika’s words had on both of them.
“It was very powerful, what [Erika] said about her own family, and certainly very moving to both of us.”
After Charlie’s death, Erika revealed that she had been hoping she was pregnant with their third child at the time of the tragedy.
“I was praying to God that I was pregnant when he got murdered,” she said, in an interview with Megyn Kelly