Basketball player Candace Parker, who plays for the Chicago Sky, has revealed that her partner Anya Petrakova is pregnant with the couple’s first child together! Pregnancy wasn’t the only announcement Candace had. She also revealed that she and Anya were married! “2 years ago, I got to marry my best friend in front of our close family and friends.”

“My heart could have exploded,” Candace continued, sharing about the moment she and Anya tied the knot. “I cried like a baby….To know me or you is to know our love. This journey hasn’t been easy. I am proud of us and what we have built and who we have grown to become both individually and together.”

Candace also shared her appreciation for her wife embracing the basketball star’s first child, a daughter named Lailaa Nicole whom she shares with her ex-husband Shelden Williams. “Thank you for always loving Lailaa as your own, being my calm, my support, my voice of reason, my laughs, my cuddles, my dance in the rain, my happy, my home… Thanks for constantly challenging me and telling me when I’m wrong 🙄. I LOVE YOU🐞 I appreciate you, I value you and what we have.”

The Chicago Sky forward revealed her desire to grow her family with Anya. “We’ve always dreamed of growing our family….it’s surreal that we now have a baby on the way! Lailaa is pumped to be a big sister! You couldn’t be more beautiful! Glowing, while understanding that I have to constantly love, kiss, and talk to your belly AND yes… play Jay-Z for the baby (Goose knows “Song Cry” already by heart😜 !) I can’t wait to embark on this next chapter in life with you!”

Congratulations to Candace and Anya on their marriage and growing their family! We wish them all the best as they prepare to welcome their first child together.

Kate Fann (she/her) is the BabyNames.com celebrity blogger, as well as an established content writer, aspiring author, and social media expert. She has been featured in online publications such as Bolde, ManoByte, Medium, The Social Observer, and more. Kate has ghostwritten numerous romance novels and is currently working on publishing her own works in the Young Adult genre.

Kate lives in East Tennessee with her husband Casey and her two sons, Quinn and Noah. When she's not writing or scrolling Instagram, Kate can be found tasting delicious wines, playing with make-up, baking yummy treats, or hiking the beautiful Smoky Mountains.