NBC News Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor and Husband Welcome Their First Baby
NBC News Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor is known for her insightful interviews and coverage of political events. However, the veteran journalist faced a difficult personal battle behind the scenes.
Just last month, Alcindor shared that she and her husband Nathaniel Cline, a journalist, had been trying to conceive a child together for years.
Earlier this week, Alcindor shared the first photos of her son, Yrie Myles Alcindor Cline. She shared that the baby's name "is pronounced "i-ree" — the same pronunciation of the Jamaican saying "Irie," which means vibes are good and everything is well."
In a statement shared with Today, Alcindor and Cline stated that Baby Yrie was born on May 30th at 1:53 p.m., weighing 5 pounds, 1 ounce, and measuring 18 inches.
"We are overjoyed and feel incredibly blessed that our son has arrived," the proud parents said in a written statement. "While the journey to get to this moment was tough, it was well worth it as our hearts are full with happiness and love.”
The couple reported that Yrie “is a very chill baby, who like many newborns loves eating and sleeping."
In a touching essay shared earlier this month on Today, Alcindor celebrated her pregnancy while also lamenting for women still struggling with infertility. "That's why I knew in my heart that I couldn't post a photo of my growing stomach with a cheery announcement. I don't mean to imply in any way that those posts are wrong. In fact, I wish I could genuinely make one of my own. What I mean, though, is that it would not be genuine of me to do that, because I've found myself in tears reading those sorts of announcements, feeling agony knowing that unfortunately, that was not my reality."
She added, "It is the most incredible, exciting, life-affirming thing for me to have a baby on the way, especially because it comes after years of disappointment, ugly crying and carrying around a deep sense of shame that my body couldn’t do what everyone else’s body seemed to do so easily."
She adds that she had been "feverishly chasing motherhood," "hoping, and praying, and deeply wanting more than anything else in this world to be pregnant and to bring home a healthy baby." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 1 in 5 women struggle to get pregnant.
According to Forbes, a single IVF cycle—defined as ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, and embryo transfer—can range from $15,000 to $30,000, depending on the center and the patient's medication needs. Medications can account for up to 35% of those charges.
The costs put the procedure and medicine out of reach for many. However, Forbes notes that insurance covers some costs, and some grants and loans can help.
