Though gender reveal parties may no longer be as trendy or extravagant as they once were, one Texas family had a historic reason to celebrate. Michael Sherman Jr., 32, a lieutenant with the Montgomery Fire Department, and his wife, Joacquia, 32, were planning a small gender reveal to welcome their second child. But when her doctor accidentally sent the results directly to her instead of her sister, Joacquia discovered they were expecting a baby girl, the first born in her husband’s family since 1917.
“I saw it and I was just like, ‘Oh, wow, okay. It can’t be an intimate reveal anymore. It needs to be much bigger,'” she told KTRK, per People. “I need his family from Atlanta to come here.”
She quickly made arrangements to surprise her husband, not only with the historic news but also by inviting his extended family for a larger celebration.
“I was blindfolded the whole time once I got to the house,” Michael told People.
When he removed the blindfold, he was greeted by his entire family and was stunned to see a local news crew, invited by Joacquia’s mother. The couple and their 5-year-old son then cut into the gender reveal cake and were shocked to see pink frosting inside.
“I was just getting off shift that morning, and what was supposed to be a small gender reveal with just close family turned into something much bigger,” Michael told Good Morning America. “I took the blindfold off and there’s a camera crew, and family from all over the United States. It was a huge surprise — on top of finding out that it’s a girl. So it was pretty amazing.”
“It really is an honor,” he later told People.
“We didn’t think it was possible,” Joacquia added. “So I mean, it’s just a shock to everybody.”
Michael Sherman Sr., the dad-to-be’s father, told KTRK that the last girl born into the family was Orah Sherman, Michael Jr.’s great-great aunt, who was born in 1917 and lived until 2004.
“I have three boys, my dad had two boys … and his brother had two boys,” he told the news outlet. “It’s been nothing but boys, boys, boys.”
Michael’s grandmother, Lydia Robertson, shared that Orah was a trailblazer in Atlanta. “She met a lot of civil rights leaders and made a real impact,” she told KTRK.
To say the family is excited would be an understatement. But People reported Joacquia may be the most thrilled of all, especially about the chance to finally shop for baby girl clothes.
“I’m used to dressing a boy,” she explained. “I’m excited about the nail shop — just doing girly things with her.”
