After the divorce rumors, second lady Usha Vance announces pregnancy

Usha Vance, the nation's second lady and wife of Vice President JD Vance, has spent her family's first year in office familiarizing herself with the pitfalls and pleasantries of public service.

And on Tuesday, Jan. 20, after months of public speculation about a pending divorce and rumors about why the second lady wasn't wearing her wedding ring, the Vances announced that they will welcome their fourth child in July. "We're very excited to share the news that Usha is pregnant with our fourth child, a boy," the couple said in a statement. "Usha and the baby are doing well, and we are looking forward to welcoming him."

The Vances currently have two sons and one daughter, Ewan, 8, Vivek, 5, and Mirabel, 4.

Notably, the pair opted to share the news that they are expecting on the anniversary of President Donald Trump's second inauguration. Reports as recently as last week speculated about the health of their marriage after Usha Vance was not seen in public for a month.

Vance is among a growing bipartisan group of American political spouses, including New York first lady Rama Duwaji and U.S. first lady Melania Trump, who seek to hold sway over their own narratives.

The announcement comes after the pair faced a flurry of divorce rumors, which first surfaced before their move into the Naval Observatory and reached a fever pitch in November. 

Usha Vance stirred controversy in the final days of fall when she visited Camp Lejeune alongside the first lady.

The second lady was seen talking to troops during the outing without her wedding ring. Vance, despite rampant online discourse, has been photographed with and without her wedding band on numerous occasions.

A spokeswoman for the second lady told USA TODAY at the time that Vance is "a mother of three young children, who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths and forgets her ring sometimes."

"Sometimes I'm wearing it and sometimes I've just been to the gym and showered and I'm not wearing it,” Vance told USA TODAY in an interview published last month.

Though she and her husband "do find it kind of funny" that people are talking about them, she told USA TODAY that she doesn't "find it fruitful" to keep track of the rumors. 

The second lady, an experienced civil litigator who met her husband at Yale Law School, has led a more private life focused on motherhood than statesmanship. Early last year, she left her quiet and ordinary life as an attorney at a prestigious Ohio firm. She has kept a low profile in Washington while remaining focused on her advocacy for servicemembers and military families, a common cause among American second ladies.

Tuesday seems to be a reminder, once again, that Vance knows where and when she wants to speak and what, exactly, she wants Americans to know.