Jessie James Decker is a country music singer who is married to Eric Decker, a former NFL player. Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of either of them. They weren’t ringing any bells for me, either, until I did some Googling and had a moment of, “Ooooh, these are those people!” You may remember Eric and Jessie from headlines back in 2017 when they spoke out against taking a knee at football games. Yeah, those guys.

Anyway, Jessie and Eric have been married since June 2013 and have three children, ages 9, 7, and 5. They recently announced that they’re expecting their fourth child and shared during an Instagram Q&A that the pregnancy was unplanned. Apparently the news was so unexpected that even Eric didn’t believe the news when Jessie told him.

Eric thought she was joking. [Eric] didn’t believe me, actually. He thought I was playing a joke on him … but I would never joke about something like this,” she told fans. “He literally thought [my sister] Sydney peed on a stick and we were, like, messing with him.” (Sydney and husband Anthony Bass welcomed their baby boy, Sonny, on July 27 and also share two daughters.)

He got there eventually. It took some time for Eric, 36, to fully come to terms with the situation. “I was like, ‘I’m not joking. This is real,’” Jessie recalled. “It was a shock for a while there, but then as soon as he knew it was real, I mean, you know him. … We love kids, so we’re like, ‘Yeah!’”

Surprise! The couple, who already share Vivianne, 9, Eric Jr., 7, and Forrest, 5, weren’t trying for a fourth baby. “I’ve gotten this question the most, probably. It was not planned,” Jessie explained during her Q&A. “We were very, very surprised.” Jessie reminded her followers that she’d “been telling Eric it was probably time to get a vasectomy,” but he never went through with the procedure. “I felt like we were done and I just feel like God always has other plans. So it was extremely shocking and surprising, but like, [we’re] happy [and] excited,” she said.

Eric has weird feelings about vasectomies. Last year, Jessie exclusively told Us Weekly that she had “no plans for a fourth” baby after previously attempting to convince Eric to get a vasectomy. “He won’t book it. … Just the idea freaks him out,” she said in January 2022. At the time, Eric acknowledged that “the papers are filled out” while he tried to come to a final decision. “It’s a little power being taken. That’s how I feel,” he told Us. “I’m a little nervous about it, to be honest. … You don’t know where life will take you in the next five years.”

Eric has even weirder opinions about vasectomies. One year later, Eric’s mind still hadn’t changed. “I keep asking him, ‘Go make that appointment’ and he won’t. He just won’t do it,” Jessie told Us in January. “He says it takes, like, his manhood away from him. So he’s just gonna leave it, I guess.”

[From US Weekly]

First off, congratulations to Jessie and Eric. I’m glad that when faced with a surprise pregnancy, they were able to look at their situation and make the choice that is best for their family. Everyone should get to do that. Niceties out of the way, I’m simultaneously side-eyeing and rolling my eyes at Eric Decker. Getting a vasectomy “takes his manhood away from him?!” Gag, miss me with that ignorance. I bet he’s one of those dudes who think it’s solely the woman’s responsibility to prevent pregnancy. The Deckers have also said in interviews that they don’t use any form of birth control. If you don’t want to get a vasectomy, it’s your choice not to, but if you’re not using any form of birth control, don’t act “shocked” when you end up with an oopsy baby, FFS. And don’t be surprised when you end up with baby #5, either.