Patrick Clancy, the father whose three young children were killed by his first wife more than three years ago, is expecting a baby with his new wife, Rachel Danis, a quiet step forward confirmed not by the couple themselves but by their CBS interviewer.
Ross Douthat, who interviewed Clancy and Danis for their first joint appearance on CBS "60 Minutes," confirmed the pregnancy during an appearance on CBS Mornings on Monday. Anchor Nate Burleson pressed Douthat on a moment from the original sit-down in which the interviewer had asked the couple a vague question about "starting a family." Douthat, laughing at his own restraint, admitted he had been "too coy" with the phrasing.
Then he said it plainly: "Yes, they're having a child."
The confirmation adds a new chapter to one of the most wrenching family tragedies in recent memory. Clancy lost all three of his children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, when his then-wife, Lindsay Clancy, strangled them. That case, which ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked on three counts of first-degree murder, sparked national outrage and an ongoing legal fight over accountability.
Danis, a fertility doctor by profession, sat beside Clancy for the "60 Minutes" interview, a conversation that took place more than three years after the children's deaths. Neither the couple nor CBS disclosed the pregnancy during the broadcast itself. Douthat's Monday morning confirmation appears to have filled in what the original interview only hinted at.
During the "60 Minutes" interview, Clancy made clear he and Danis intended to build a family together, and that the children he lost would remain part of it. The New York Post reported that Clancy's own words signaled plans for more than one child with Danis.
"I think every parent can agree, you have different relationships with your kids, but they're all your kids. And I can't wait to tell them about their brothers and sister."
That statement, "tell them," plural, pointed to a future Clancy was already building, not merely hoping for. Douthat's confirmation on Monday made the timeline concrete: the couple is not planning to start a family someday. They already have.
The legal aftermath of the children's deaths remains unresolved. Lindsay Clancy's murder trial ended without a verdict, and her defense attorney has since asked the judge to acquit her outright. That motion drew sharp public backlash, as did reports that a holdout juror who refused to support an insanity verdict faced death threats after the mistrial.
No details about Rachel Danis's due date or how far along the pregnancy is were disclosed during either broadcast. Douthat offered no additional specifics beyond the confirmation itself.
The Clancy case has become a flashpoint in broader debates about criminal accountability and mental-health defenses in violent crimes against children. Rep. Nancy Mace called publicly for the harshest possible punishment after the mistrial, reflecting a strain of public anger that has not faded with time.
Meanwhile, the legal system continues to wrestle with cases in which mothers who kill their children seek acquittal on mental-health grounds. A separate case in the Bronx, in which a judge ruled a mother not criminally responsible for stabbing two young children to death, has drawn similar scrutiny over whether the courts take the lives of children seriously enough when the perpetrator claims psychological distress.
Patrick Clancy, for his part, appears focused on what comes next. He chose a public forum, a prime-time national interview, to introduce his new wife and signal that he is rebuilding. The pregnancy, confirmed by a third party rather than by the couple directly, suggests they are guarding the new chapter more carefully than they shared the old grief.
Lindsay Clancy's defense team continues to push for acquittal following the deadlocked trial. The case remains open, and a retrial has not been ruled out.
Three children are gone, and no courtroom proceeding will change that. But a father who lost everything choosing to start again is the kind of stubborn, forward-looking act that deserves more than a headline, it deserves the space to happen in peace.
