Family welcomes first baby girl since 1917

Michael and Joacquia Sherman recently found out that they are expecting a baby girl, the first to be born to the Sherman family in more than 100 years.

The Texas couple was very surprised when they found out their second child was a girl, ABC News reported. They also have a 5-year-old son. 

"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.

To celebrate the news, Joacquia threw a surprise party for her husband when he came home from his shift as a lieutenant firefighter. ABC 13 was there and filmed his reaction. 

"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.”

Joacquia’s due date is in March 2026. Their son, Mekhai, is excited to be an older brother.

"I think he'll be a great big brother and a great leader. He's definitely looking forward to meeting his new sister," Sherman said.

The last girl born in the Sherman family was Michael’s great-aunt, Orah Belle Sherman, who was born in 1917.

Orah Belle, her family reports, was involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

"It was pretty incredible finding out that we're expecting a girl and we get to honor my great-aunt," Michael said. "She's a pretty pivotal person in the Civil Rights [movement] in Atlanta … she just had an incredible personality."