America’s littlest sweethearts! Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and more of country music’s biggest stars have expanded their famous families over the years.
Rhett married Lauren Akins in Nashville in October 2012, but the pair had been in each other’s lives since childhood. Five years after their wedding, they announced their plans to adopt a baby girl from Uganda — and revealed Akins was also pregnant. Daughter Ada James was born in August 2017 and shares a close bond with big sister Willa.
In April 2022, the “Look What God Gave Her” crooner said on the “Making Space With Hoda Kotb” podcast that his eldest child “has questions all the time” about her adoption journey. “I think when you become a parent, you’re like, ‘Well, I’m a dad, I have all the answers.’ Or, ‘I’m a mom, I have all the answers,’” he continued. “And adoption is one of the most beautiful things in the world, and I don’t think at the beginning of it you go, ‘Oh, in six years I’m gonna have to start answering some really intense questions.’”
Rhett told Kotb, who has two adopted daughters of her own, “You go, ‘Well, what age is the right age?’ … She talks to Lauren, like, ‘When can we go see my friends in Uganda?’ And then Ada James will be like, ‘Well, when can I go see our friends in Uganda?’ And Willa Gray will be like, ‘Well, they’re not your friends, they’re my friends.’ I love the innocence that they have. They haven’t been jaded by the world.”
The couple welcomed daughters Lennon and Lillie in February 2020 and November 2021, respectively. Shortly before their fourth child arrived, Rhett teased via Instagram Stories that he and Akins were “probably” going to have more babies in the future.
Underwood, for her part, shares sons Isaiah and Jacob with husband Mike Fisher. In September 2018, the former American Idol contestant revealed she suffered three miscarriages in two years.
“I got mad. … I was like, ‘Why on Earth do I keep getting pregnant if I can’t have a kid?’” she said on CBS This Morning at the time. “Like, ‘What is this? Shut the door. Like, do something. Either shut the door or let me have a kid.’ And for the first time, I feel like I actually told God how I felt.”
While celebrating her second child’s birthday in January 2021, Underwood reflected on her long path to motherhood. “Jacob, we longed for you. We prayed for you. We walked a long, hard road in order to one day hold you,” she wrote via Instagram. “Today you are two. You are silly and strong. You love to play and sing and follow your big brother around. You are from God. Happy birthday, sweet boy!”
Scroll down to see family photos of country artists with their cuties: