Firefighter and wife welcoming family's 1st girl in over 100 years
A Texas firefighter and his wife are expecting a baby girl, the first daughter in their family after 100 years of welcoming sons.
Michael Sherman, 34, a lieutenant with the Montgomery Fire Department, and his wife Joacquia Sherman, 32, a TSA employee at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, told ABC News they were both surprised when they learned the sex of their second child.
"We didn't think it was quite possible for us to even have a girl, so, I just knew if we had another child, it was going to be a boy, so I was very surprised," Joacquia Sherman said.
The expectant mom hatched a plan with her relatives to surprise her husband with a big gathering to celebrate her pregnancy on Sunday.
"I was just getting off shift that morning and we had a, [what] was supposed to be a small gender reveal, [with] very close family members, and … going into it, I took the blindfold off and there's a camera crew, and there's family from all over the United States," Michael Sherman recalled. "It was a huge surprise on top of me finding out that it's a girl. So it was pretty amazing."
According to Michael Sherman, the last time his family welcomed a girl was back in 1917, when his late great-aunt Orah Belle Sherman was born.
"It was pretty incredible finding out that we're expecting a girl and we get to honor my great-aunt," Michael Sherman said. "She's a pretty pivotal person in the Civil Rights [movement] in Atlanta … she just had an incredible personality."
Joacquia Sherman is due to give birth around March 11, 2026, and she and her husband say their 5-year-son Mekhai is also excited about the arrival of his younger sibling.
"I think he'll be a great big brother and a great leader. He's definitely looking forward to meeting his new sister," Michael Sherman said.
