Does Pete Buttigieg have children? What we know about the former Presidential candidate’s family amid Andrew Schulz podcast appearance
Pete Buttigieg, the former Presidential candidate, appeared on the April 23 episode of the Flagrant podcast. While discussing various topics with hosts Andrew Schulz, Akaash Singh, AlexxMedia, and Mark Gagnon, Buttigieg spoke about his children.
For the unversed, the former Presidential candidate and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, adopted their fraternal twins, Joseph August "Gus" and Penelope Rose, in August 2021. Buttigieg shared that while traveling for work, he received the news that they would be adopting twins. He noted that he was not aware of the babies' race at that time.
"I was at work, traveling. I got a phone call. Chasten called me, and the next day, we were in a rural Midwestern hospital, holding them in our arms, and they were like one-day-old... We didn't know anything about the racial identity of the kids until they started to look mixed-race, which they are," Buttigieg said.
When Flagrant host, AlexxMedia, asked him how he was dealing with raising mixed-race babies, Pete Buttigieg said that he often doubts himself and worries if he's doing enough for them. Buttigieg mentioned that he plans to eventually introduce his kids to individuals of the same race so they can have "mentors."
You're always asking yourself, how can I be a good dad for kids who have a different racial identity than I do? There are circumstances where there's nothing I can do to help them navigate that. And I need to connect them up to mentors and people in their lives. This is not a colorblind society," Buttigieg stated.
Pete Buttigieg previously shared the twins' health issues
On August 27, 2022, Pete Buttigieg shared his fatherhood journey in a Medium post titled "One Year In: Parenting Has Taught Us About Vulnerability and Gratitude." He noted that the twins were born prematurely and required constant active care as they often fell ill.
"The twins' early health needs often called for constant, active care. Penelope developed severe reflux, terrifying us when she would stop breathing and turn purple in a matter of seconds," Buttigieg wrote.
Pete Buttigieg wrote that they got used to parenting within a few months. However, in one instance, both children caught a cold at the same time. He noted that their daughter Penelope couldn't breathe.
"By October, we had started to feel more confident and comfortable with all the routines (and the surprises) of parenting. Then one day, the kids got a cold. Soon it was a cough. Then Penelope started to have trouble breathing. Over FaceTime, our doctor expressed concern about the way her belly was retracting under her ribs as she worked to take in air," he wrote.
He continued by sharing that his husband had taken Penelope to the emergency room. While he was looking after their son, he also fell ill and had to be hospitalized.
"Chasten drove her to the Emergency Room while I stayed home with Gus. His skin took on a mottled look, and by the next day he was admitted to the hospital too," Buttigieg wrote.
According to a report by People dated July 25, 2024, Pete Buttigieg and Chasten Buttigieg were married in 2018.