Lucille Ball's Hidden Baby Drama with Desi Arnaz Revealed After Miscarriages

Lucille Ball was so excited about the prospect of becoming a mother that she picked her favorite baby names in 1943, but she wouldn’t welcome her first child until 11 years after marrying Desi Arnaz and suffering two heartbreaking miscarriages.

In the newly-published biography Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television, author Todd S. Purdum revealed the flame-haired funny woman used to sign letters to her Cuban husband from their future kids ‘Susan and Desi Jr.’

At age 39 in 1951, Lucille had a high-risk geriatric pregnancy – which required a caesarean section – and she asked to see her newborn daughter ‘the moment her anesthesia wore off.’

‘”I want to see Susan!” she told the nurse, using the name she believed that she and Desi had agreed on if the baby was a girl, after Lucy’s good friend, the young actress Susan Peters, who had been paralyzed from the waist down in a duck-shooting accident,’ Purdum wrote in his 368-page tome.

‘”You mean Lucie?” the nurse replied. Without consulting her, Desi had already written Lucie Désirée on the birth certificate, naming the little girl for her mother and maternal grandmother.’

Lucille Ball (R, pictured in 1949) was so excited about the prospect of becoming a mother that she picked her favorite baby names in 1943, but she wouldn’t welcome her first child until 11 years after marrying Desi Arnaz (L) and suffering two heartbreaking miscarriages

In the newly-published biography Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television, author Todd S. Purdum revealed the flame-haired funnywoman used to sign letters to her Cuban hubbie from their future kids ‘Susan and Desi Jr.’

Ball ‘was surprised but didn’t make a fuss’ since ‘the name was, after all, a compliment she could hardly resist.’

Lucie Désirée Arnaz arrived six weeks before Lucy and Desi began work on what would ultimately become their legacy, groundbreaking CBS sitcom I Love Lucy, which dominated the airwaves from 1951-1957.

When Ball and Arnaz welcomed their second child – son Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV – in 1953, it directly coincided with their characters’ welcoming Ricky Jr. in an episode watched by 71.7% of all American TV owners (more than President Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration).

Behind the scenes, the four-time Emmy winner was tortured over the charismatic bandleader’s reported philandering and boozing, which caused her to file for divorce in 1944 and again in 1960.

‘It wasn’t good for anyone,’ 72-year-old Desi Jr. admitted in the new book.

‘And we’ll always remember when they sat us down and said, “Look, you know, things aren’t working.” I mean, I remember word for word.’

73-year-old Lucie also spoke with Purdum for the book following her own deep dive into her famous folks’ 20-year marriage for her intimate 1993 documentary, Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie.

Both nepo babies served as executive producers on Aaron Sorkin’s 2021 biopic Being the Ricardos – which earned Oscar nominations for Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, and J. K. Simmons.

At age 39 in 1951 (pictured), Lucille had a high-risk geriatric pregnancy – which required a caesarean section – and she asked to see her newborn daughter ‘the moment her anesthesia wore off’

Purdum wrote in his 368-page tome: ‘”I want to see Susan!” she told the nurse, using the name she believed that she and Desi had agreed on if the baby was a girl…”You mean Lucie?” the nurse replied. Without consulting her, Desi had already written Lucie Désirée on the birth certificate, naming the little girl for her mother and maternal grandmother’

Ball ‘was surprised but didn’t make a fuss’ since ‘the name was, after all, a compliment she could hardly resist’ (pictured in 1954)

Behind the scenes, the four-time Emmy winner was tortured over the charismatic bandleader’s reported philandering and boozing, which caused her to file for divorce in 1944 and again in 1960 (pictured in 1959)

72-year-old Desi Jr. (L, pictured August 3) admitted in the new book: ‘It wasn’t good for anyone. And we’ll always remember when they sat us down and said, “Look, you know, things aren’t working.” I mean, I remember word for word’

73-year-old Lucie (R) also spoke with Purdum for the book following her own deep dive into her famous folks’ 20-year marriage for her intimate 1993 documentary, Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie

Both nepo babies served as executive producers on Aaron Sorkin’s 2021 biopic Being the Ricardos – which earned Oscar nominations for Nicole Kidman (L), Javier Bardem (R), and J. K. Simmons

Lucie vented at a screening of her doc last Thursday: ‘I tried to work on it and correct the incorrect parts, especially [my mother’s] relationship with the writers. Totally wrong, right? She adored those people. They got along so well; none of that backstabbing, crazy, insulting stuff. [It was] such a crock of poop. It was so wrong’

Arnaz had attempted to have a ‘meaningful consultation’ with the 64-year-old filmmaker (2-L, pictured in 2021) but scoffed: ‘You can’t talk to Aaron. He’s Aaron Sorkin. “Well, what do you know? You were 15 months old!”‘

‘I tried to work on it and correct the incorrect parts, especially [my mother’s] relationship with the writers,’ Lucie vented at a screening of her doc last Thursday.

‘Totally wrong, right? She adored those people. They got along so well; none of that backstabbing, crazy, insulting stuff. [It was] such a crock of poop. It was so wrong.’

Arnaz had attempted to have a ‘meaningful consultation’ with the 64-year-old filmmaker but scoffed: ‘You can’t talk to Aaron. He’s Aaron Sorkin. “Well, what do you know? You were 15 months old!”‘