Surprise! Marina Squerciati Welcomed a 2nd Baby in 2024: "The Real Reason I..."
The Chicago P.D. star is very good at keeping her private life private!
One of our favorite Chicago P.D. stars kept a big secret throughout 2024 — and she just spilled the beans on social media.
Marina Squerciati kicked off the new year with jaw-dropping news: She had her second child in 2024! In a surprising New Year's Day Instagram post, the 40-year-old shared a photo of herself beaming while in the latter stages of her pregnancy and gave fans an update on her private life in a revealing caption.
"2024 was a BIG year for me, literally. I thought I handled being a pregnant working mom with grace—swipe to see my daughter's very different take (look at the face she's drawn for me). PS. THIS was the real reason I wasn't in the first two episodes of #ChicagoPD, I was having a baby. Have a great NYE, friends!" she said in a caption.
Squerciati is glowing in the picture she shared and looks so happy. The longtime Chicago P.D. star keeping her second pregnancy under wraps for the whole year is seriously impressive. Not many people could've pulled it off.
RELATED: Marina Squerciati Was Torrey DeVitto's Bridesmaid in Her Stunning Wedding (PICS)
In other news, that's why she didn't appear in any of the first episodes of Season 12. Consider the mystery officially solved! Episodes 1 and 2 ("Ten Ninety-Nine" and "Blood Bleeds Blue," respectively) didn't feature Squerciati's Kim Burgess at all — and now fans know why.
While Squerciati didn't reveal the baby's gender or arrival date (or even the name) the fact that she welcomed her second child into the world is nevertheless cause for celebration. Besides, we're sure she'll give fans updates in due time. In the meantime, there's reason to celebrate: The baby is the second child of Squerciati and her husband of eight years, attorney Eli Kay-Oliphant.
Marina Squerciati identifies similarities between herself and her character
Being a working mom in the One Chicago universe — or in real life — is not always easy. In a 2021 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Squerciati reflected on being a working mother and seeing a lot of similarities between Burgess and herself in real life. Learning on the fly is a trait shared by both a cop and a mom!
"It's great as an actor because you don't have all the tools at the beginning of an episode, right?" she explained. "And you're unpacking your box and learning how to deal with each thing as it comes up."
Ultimately, Squerciati confessed that being a working mom in Hollywood is challenging — but fortunately, she thinks she's doing a halfway-decent job at it.
"Also as a working mom myself, it's this constant hustle of trying to do your job while trying to take care of your kid, and earn a living at the same time," she revealed. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm doing everything kind of well — I'm not killing it [laughs]; I'm doing okay."
