Mario has officially become a father. On Monday, January 26, 2026, Mario and his girlfriend, Esmeralda Rios, welcomed their first child—a healthy baby boy.
Taking to social media, shared his news with all of his followers in a heartfelt and humorous post Donnin hospital scrubs and jokingly referring to himself as “Doctor Barrett,” he was in awe after the experience.
“Women are God’s greatest creation [because] what I witnessed today was ONLY GODS work!” he wrote to his millions of followers. “Healthy baby boy!”
Back in August, Mario announced that he was expecting his first baby with Rios on his Instagram Stories. In the post, Mario placed his hand over his girlfriend’s baby bump in the beautiful picture.
“It’s a whole universe in there! 🥹 I can’t wait,” his caption read at the time.
A Deliberate Journey to Parenthood
The arrival of his son marks a deeply intentional milestone for the Baltimore native. In previous interviews, Mario has been vocal about his cautious approach to starting a family. Growing up without a father and witnessing his mother’s struggles with addiction, the singer often stated that he refused to rush into parenthood until he felt emotionally and spiritually grounded.
In a 2023 interview with V-103 Atlanta, he revealed he doesn’t “take having kids lightly.”
“I don’t take having kids lightly,” he said. “Everybody I know [has] kids. Some of my friends [that are] younger have kids. Some of my friends [that are] older have kids, and it comes with a lot of pros and cons. I also grew up without a father. So, I want to do it right when I do do it. You know, I got time. So, I’m not rushing into that.”
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