Porsha Williams Pregnant, ‘Real Housewives’ Star Is Expecting Six Years After Miscarrying

Porsha Williams, 37, the Real Housewives of Atlanta star, told PEOPLE in an interview for their newest issue, “When I found out I was pregnant, I was excited but I had mixed feelings. The other feeling that I had besides excitement was fear.”

That is because, she said, she had a miscarriage in her past, and “I suffer with fibroids and had to have a myomectomy. So just the fear of, ‘Is the baby going to be okay? Will I make it full term?’ All those questions that you ask if you’ve had a miscarriage before.”

Myomectomy is the surgical removal of uterine fibroids. In contrast to a hysterectomy, the uterus remains preserved and the woman retains her reproductive potential.

E! News reported that Williams was “devastated” by her previous miscarriage and that she opened up about the loss in a 2012 blog post for Bravo in which she detailed her struggles and the emotional and physical toll it took on her.

But that is all in the past, thankfully. “Going into the first appointment and being able to see baby and hear baby and know that baby is fine, then I can really wrap my mind around actually becoming a mommy,” Williams said.

She is expecting this child with her boyfriend, Dennis McKinley. Williams said that the impending birth is a blessing and that her significant other is just as excited as she is. This will be the first baby for both of them. Williams and McKinley have known each other for years, but they only started dating this past year. She has stated that it was only after she stopped looking for love that McKinley and she began to date.

McKinley is an entrepreneur and his Instagram page, where his handle is @workwincelebrate, shows that he has recently had his hand in businesses in his native Detroit and Atlanta, including Cru Hookah Lounge and The Original Hot Dog Factory.

The reality star told her boyfriend the good news on his birthday in July, which she says “was really hard to do” because she had to wait after finding out herself. Their baby on the way, though a “surprise,” has only strengthened their bond.

The couple doesn’t know the gender of their baby yet, but Williams says they have talked about names. McKinley liked Napoleon, but Williams nixed it. He also likes PJ for Porsha Jr., but she is not convinced on that name either.

Williams isn’t the only one in the Real Housewives family getting ready for motherhood. Kenya Moore is expecting her first child with Marc Daly.