Bakari Sellers Credited Black Doctors for Saving His Wife Ellen Rucker Sellers from Dying
You may quote all the statistics you want about the terrible maternal death rate among Black women in the United States, but statistics don't often speak louder than individual tales.
Perhaps one of the more compelling ones comes from Ellen Rucker Sellers, wife to political activist and CNN contributor Bakari Sellers.
They credit their survival after giving birth to twins to the presence of Black female doctors.
Black Women's Vulnerability during Childbirth
Bakari told TMZ that African-American maternal mortality is his number one political concern. He refers to this concern in a passage from his new memoir, My Vanishing Country.
He elaborated Black women are three to four times more likely than white women to die during childbirth.
Finally, he stated that the suffering that Black people in the US experience is not treated with the same urgency as white people's pain in the healthcare system.
Bakari also commented on rooting out the implicit bias in the healthcare delivery system and the need to start being advocates. In a conversation with Madam Noire, his wife talked about her labor experience.
She revealed she opted to switch from a white male doctor to a Black female doctor because she was made to feel like a statistic rather than a person.
She also chose an OB-GYN office for Black women when she became pregnant with twins.
Who Is Bakari Sellers' Wife?
Ellen is a medical practitioner. She is a reputed chiropractor by profession while also being a successful entrepreneur as her side hustle.
Rucker Roots is the product of her hard work and is one of the favorites among women for hair care.
Bakari Sellers posing for a photo with his wife, Ellen Rucker Sellers. (Source: Instagram)
She met Bakari first at a mutual friend's wedding. They crossed paths on the ceremony's boat ride back in 2008.
Ellen recounts their first encounter as a love-at-first-sight. They dated for seven happy years and decided to make it merrier by calling each other husband and wife.
The couple's parents, relatives, and close friends attended the quaint wedding ceremony in 2015.
The to-be wife wore a sleeveless A-line wedding gown for his stroll down the aisle, while the man picked a traditional black tuxedo. The duo has had a strong bond as a perfect married couple from their wedding day.
The husband-and-wife team is enjoying a happy marriage, causing no separation rumors. That being said, before being called Mrs. Sellers, she was married to Vincent Lamar Carter Jr.
He was a former NBA athlete, and they had been college sweethearts. They had tied the knot in 2004 and parented daughter, Kai Carter.
However, they soon separated two years later. Despite the bitter end, they remain excellent friends, even today.
The Sellers' Life with Children
After successfully giving birth to twin children, Bakari said that apart from being a father, he is simply glad to have been able to advocate for his spouse.
They were born in 2019, and their names are Stokley Sellers and Sadie Ellen Sellers.
Sadie was born with biliary atresia, a liver condition that necessitated a liver transplant among the children. Duke University Hospital successfully conducted the surgery, and she is recovering now.
In addition, the Sellers siblings are becoming well known as celebrity children. Being heavily featured on their parents'Â personal Instagram accounts is a treat as well.