Jelly Roll and Wife Bunnie Xo ‘Can’t Wait’ to Expand Their Family: It’s ‘Been Their Dream for a While’

Jelly Roll remembers the day his daughter was born like it was yesterday. At the time, the Tennessee native (real name: Jason DeFord) was 23 years old and serving time in prison for selling drugs.

“A guard knocks on my cell door mid-afternoon during lockdown. He goes, ‘You had a kid today,’” the “Halfway to Hell” singer recalled in an interview with Billboard. His daughter’s birth, he went on, inspired him to change a life spent in and out of jail.

“I’ve never had nothing in life that urged me in the moment to know that I had to do something different,” he told the mag. “I have to figure this out right now.”

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The 38-year-old star — who got his GED behind bars and was released shortly before Bailee’s second birthday — has come a long way since those days. He and his wife of eight years, “Dumb Blonde” podcast host Bunnie Xo, currently have full custody of the 16-year-old (in a July interview, Jelly revealed that Bailee’s mother, Felicity, is “still actively in and out of jail and in her addiction”) and are also coparenting his son, Noah, with the 8-year-old’s mom, Melisa.

But in a surprising new development, the pair have revealed that they want to expand their family. In fact, Bunnie, 44, has been exploring the IVF process since June, and the pair now plan on using a surrogate to welcome their first child together.

“This has been their dream for a while,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style. “They’re very excited to make it happen.”

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Jelly sees the new baby as a chance to finally get things right from the start. As a teen and young adult he was in and out of jail and struggled with substance abuse issues. (The star was arrested more than 40 times on drug charges and has said he abused cocaine.)

He cleaned up his act following the birth of Bailee, though he’s admitted to smoking weed and drinking the occasional cocktail. After failing to catch a break as a rapper he shot to fame in 2022 with the release of country hits like “Need a Favor” and “Son of a Sinner,” which scored him three CMT Awards in 2023. (In his early days, Bunnie, then an escort, supported him.)

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In 2024 he was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy. “Now that Jelly has finally made it in the music Business, he can give a kid a better life than what his older children had — a nice home, nice things, money for college, security and, most importantly, his devotion and time,” says the source.

He and Bunnie (real name: Alyssa) are hands-on with Bailee and Noah. Bailee has said her relationship with her biological mom is a work in progress, something Jelly and Bunnie support. “I had an extra, interesting, traumatic childhood,” Bailee said on “Dumb Blonde” in 2020. “[Bunnie and my dad] are important reasons for why my mom is in my life now.”

Jelly has been less forthcoming about Noah out of respect for his mother, but the boy appeared in a TikTok video with Bunnie in 2023 and Jelly says he often joins them on family vacations.

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“Jelly and Bunnie are sensitive to the kids’ needs,” says the source. “They don’t want to interfere with their relationship with their moms.”

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Bunnie admits it took her time to come around to the idea of surrogacy. The source says she and Jelly have tried to get pregnant before “but it just didn’t work out.”

After losing “many babies,” and fearing “another miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy,” Bunnie said surrogacy became her most viable option to have biological children. The pair hope to use their own embryo, she said during a September episode of “Dumb Blonde”. At the time, she fretted, “Thinking about using donor eggs, you’re just like, ‘What if I have an issue bonding with baby?’”

However it happens, she’s on board. “Now that Bunnie has learned more about the surrogate process, she thinks it’s a beautiful way to bring a child into the world,” says the source. They are hoping to have a new arrival in 2026. “Bunnie loves being a stepmom to Bailee and Noah, but she’s always wanted a child with Jelly,” adds the source. “They can’t wait.”