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“I had no desire for children. I didn’t envision having kids at all,” Wanda Skyes shared in a 2019 conversation with NPR’s Fresh Air. However, after meeting her now-wife, Alex Niedbalski, the comedian’s perspective on starting a family underwent a significant transformation. Wanda and Alex tied the knot in 2008 and joyfully welcomed fraternal twins, Olivia Lou and Lucas Claude, the following year.
“Everyone is happy and healthy at home,” Wanda’s representative announced in a statement back then, as reported by TODAY.
Since that time, Wanda has wholeheartedly embraced her role as a mother, despite once believing she would never become a parent. Reflecting on initial discussions with Alex, Wanda recounted to Fresh Air that her partner made it clear early on that she desired children. Wanda initially requested a period for contemplation, explaining that if motherhood wasn’t for her, the relationship might not progress. Yet, before the agreed-upon six months concluded, Wanda realized, “Why would you not want to build a family with this person?” She later described becoming a parent as “the most rewarding decision” she has ever made.
Wanda Sykes and Alex Sykes at the 25th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards(Shutterstock)
In the subsequent years, Wanda has frequently incorporated anecdotes about child-rearing into her stand-up performances, all while managing her family life alongside a demanding Hollywood career. Although she and Alex largely shield their children from public attention, the Emmy-winning comedian continues to offer occasional glimpses into life with their twins.
Here is what is known about Wanda and Alex’s children.
Olivia Lou Sykes
Alex Sykes, left, Wanda Sykes, arrive at night one of the Television Academy’s 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards (Shutterstock)
Olivia entered the world on April 27, 2009, weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and measuring 19 inches in length. Alex delivered both children, and she and Wanda have co-parented them.
Throughout the years, Wanda has occasionally discussed her experiences with parenthood in interviews and comedy specials, often humorously touching on the challenges of raising twins while juggling a demanding entertainment career. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Wanda candidly shared that balancing parenting and remote work left her feeling utterly drained while producing and filming projects from home.
“I’m weary. I am simply exhausted. I can’t keep track of where the day vanishes,” she confided to The Hollywood Reporter at the time while engaged in work on Netflix’s The Upshaws. Wanda quipped that she had assumed the roles of “the cafeteria attendant, the custodian, and the hall monitor” in managing domestic life with Alex and the twins.
Now in their teenage years, Olivia and Lucas recently garnered attention after Wanda humorously mentioned in interviews that the twins expressed a desire for Instagram accounts and driving permits for their 16th birthdays. Wanda confessed to feeling apprehensive about social media and playfully hinted that she refuses to join them in the car as the teens practice driving. She has also frequently noted that her children are bilingual, speaking fluent French due to Alex’s heritage.
Lucas Claude Sykes
Olivia’s twin brother, Lucas, was also born on April 27, 2009, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long.
Over time, Wanda has periodically shared amusing and honest narratives about motherhood, including the difficulties of parenting twins amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in 2020, Wanda detailed how she and Alex managed to balance their professional responsibilities while working from home, assisting their children with virtual schooling, and striving to maintain a semblance of normalcy.
Wanda has also frequently joked about being “the outlier” in her own household, given that her wife and children are white, while firmly asserting that appearance was never a factor in the formation of their family. During a 2019 NPR Fresh Air interview, she elaborated on her belief that her children didn’t require a physical resemblance to both parents to feel a strong connection.
“Naturally, one desires for the children to resemble oneself. Why wouldn’t you? You’ve earned it. Go for it. And furthermore, I was thinking, why must the children – need to appear biracial to mirror us?” Wanda remarked to NPR. “As I’ve stated, we are two women. We are unable to conceive a child. Therefore, their skin tone, in my view, was not – was not something I needed to feel they were my children. You understand, they are my children, and they identify us as the French mother and the English mother.”
Wanda also expressed that motherhood has been a profound gift, primarily because it “takes you out of your own concerns, you see? Just to be able to love something so intensely and to want to be present and care for them without worrying about yourself,” according to NPR. “It’s simply comforting to know that I possess that capacity. It’s as if, ‘Oh, I am capable of this.’ I believed I was so self-absorbed, but this – wow. Look at me. Look at me, parenting and showing concern for something beyond myself. Yes, it is truly beautiful.”