Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo share hopes for future children

Bunnie Xo has shared intimate details about the type of parents she and husband Jelly Roll hope to be, as well as the challenges she’s faced on her path to expanding their family.

The 46-year-old author and podcaster recently spoke with E! News about her new memoir, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, revealing that she and the 41-year-old country star, born Jason DeFord, plan to embrace a “childlike” approach to parenting.

“I think what these babies are going to get from J and I is more childlike parents because when we had Bailee, we were both getting sober. We were evolving. We were growing, you know, like we grew with Bailee,” Bunnie explained. “And I think this next set of children for us are going to get the kid versions of us, and we're going to get to live our childhoods through them.”

Bunnie has been open about her IVF journey and their plans to welcome children via a surrogate. In her memoir, she wrote, “Now that we’re finally stable financially and somewhat emotionally after all the healing we’ve done over this decade together, we’re talking about the future—­including growing our family. J and I have a surrogate, the sweetest woman ever, and soon I’ll be starting my IVF stims.”

While excited about the prospect of expanding their family, Bunnie admitted she feels some nervousness about the journey. 

“I’ve waited this long to have kids with someone I knew would be a great father—and to be able to make sure they have the best life,” she shared.

Bunnie candidly told People that her path to motherhood has been difficult but meaningful. “I don’t know if it’s that I did or if I didn’t choose it, but I think before we come here, we choose our life path, and we yearn for the pain that we go through,” she said. 

“Having those abortions when I was younger [and] the journey that I’m going on now with IVF, God’s putting me through this again so that I can be a voice for those women who are going through this process.”

Bunnie, who is stepmom to Jelly Roll’s daughter Bailee Ann, 17, and son Noah Buddy, 9, described IVF as “one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through,” while praising other women enduring similar challenges. 

“There are women out there that are doing 10 to 15 egg retrievals. They are freaking warriors. My hat goes off to these women, and they’re just such a cool community,” she said. “God is… Everything happens for a reason. It always comes around full circle.”