Van Jones and Friend Have Baby as ‘Conscious Co-Parents’—Not Lovers

CNN’s Van Jones has welcomed a new daughter—and he’s reportedly hoping more people will embrace the arrangement that brought her into the world.

After pandemic lockdown, Jones told TMZ, “I got clear that I wanted another kid. I discovered that my friend Noemi also wanted a baby. So, we decided to join forces and become conscious co-parents. It’s a concept that I hope more people will explore and consider.”

Jones has two sons named Mattai and Cabral that he shares with his ex-wife, Jana Carter, the niece of former president Jimmy Carter, who he was with for more than 14 years.

TMZ, quoting sources named the baby’s mother, but The Daily Beast was unable to confirm that. Jones did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Daily Beast.

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Platonic co-parenting, already well established in LGBTQ communities, has become a more mainstream topic of discussion among straight people in recent years—at least if a recent spate of feature articles in various publications is anything to go on. Not to be confused with once-romantic pairs who choose to “consciously uncouple” and platonically co-parent after breaking up—like, say, Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott—a source tells TMZ that Jones and Noemi’s relationship is and has been strictly platonic.

“It’s a very modern arrangement,” the source said. “They’re not a couple, but they are a team that wants to raise a kid together.”

Research indicates that alternative structures to the traditional family unit are just as well-adjusted—and “sometimes more so,” according to Susan Golombok, director of the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research.

Golombok has researched new family structures since the 1980s and recently published a book that explores the well-being of children raised in such units.

“People still see the traditional family as the gold standard, and every other kind is measured against that,” Golombok told The Guardian in 2020, around the time of We Are Family’s publication. “But the overarching finding of our research, over 40 years, is that these are well-adjusted families, sometimes more so than traditional ones. These are wanted children. The biggest concern is whether these children might be stigmatized, judged or bullied because of their family.”

Speaking with TMZ, Jones called this moment “a special time for our families. I feel grateful, joyful and blessed... As we create a safe and loving environment for this blessed young soul, I respectfully ask for privacy. Thank you for all the love and support.”

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