Patrick Clancy is preparing to become a father again more than three years after losing all three of his children in a tragedy that transformed his life and became the center of one of Massachusetts’ most closely watched criminal cases.

Patrick and his wife, Dr. Rachel Danis, are expecting their first child together.

The pregnancy was confirmed following the couple’s first major televised interview together, during which they spoke about rebuilding a life in New York, carrying the memory of Patrick’s children forward and beginning a new family without trying to replace the one he lost.

Patrick’s three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — died in January 2023.

Their mother, Lindsay Clancy, was later charged in connection with their deaths. Her defense has acknowledged that she caused the children’s deaths but argued that severe postpartum mental illness left her without criminal responsibility.

Her trial ended in a mistrial earlier this month after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

Against that unresolved legal backdrop, Patrick is now entering another deeply emotional chapter: preparing to welcome a child with Rachel.

Pregnancy Confirmed After Couple Spoke About ‘Starting a Family’

During Patrick and Rachel’s recent interview, the couple was asked whether they were starting a family together.

Rachel answered yes.

Patrick then spoke about the children he hopes to have with her and said he looks forward to telling them about Cora, Dawson and Callan.

At the time, the exchange stopped short of explicitly announcing a pregnancy.

The following morning, interviewer Ross Douthat clarified the situation publicly.

“They are having a child,” he said, confirming that Rachel is pregnant.

The news means Patrick will soon become a father again for the first time since losing all three of his children more than three years ago.

For Patrick, the pregnancy does not represent the beginning of an entirely separate family story.

He has made clear that Cora, Dawson and Callan will remain part of the family he is building with Rachel.

‘I Can’t Wait to Tell Them About Their Brothers and Sister’

Patrick spoke openly about how he imagines introducing his future children to the siblings they will never meet.

He said every parent develops a different relationship with each child, but that does not make any one child less important than another.

Patrick said he “can’t wait” to tell his future children about their brothers and sister.

That language reflects the way he has approached grief since the deaths.

Rather than attempting to move past Cora, Dawson and Callan, Patrick has said he tries to continue carrying them with him.

He keeps photographs and reminders of them.

He dreams about them.

And he continues speaking about them as his children in the present tense rather than as a closed chapter of his life.

The pregnancy introduces a complicated but hopeful question: how does a parent welcome another child while honoring children whose absence remains central to everyday life?

Patrick appears determined to make remembrance part of the answer.

Patrick and Rachel Met in New York

Patrick met Rachel after leaving Massachusetts and relocating to New York City.

He has said living in Duxbury became too painful because ordinary places constantly reminded him of the life he had lost.

One particularly difficult moment came when he drove past his children’s school while parents were dropping off students.

Seeing children who would have grown up alongside Cora and Dawson became overwhelming.

Patrick eventually moved to New York in April 2023.

There, the size and anonymity of the city offered him unexpected relief.

He could grieve in public without feeling constantly recognized or watched.

In January 2024, Patrick met Rachel through a running club.

What began as a friendship gradually developed into a relationship.

Rachel later recalled an early moment that forced Patrick’s past into the open unexpectedly.

Rachel Learned About the Children While They Were Getting Coffee

During one of their early meetings, Patrick pulled out his phone while paying for coffee.

Rachel noticed a photograph of three children on his phone screen.

She asked who they were.

Patrick told her they were his children.

Rachel then asked whether they lived in Massachusetts.

“They died,” Patrick told her.

Rachel later said she suddenly had countless questions but did not know how to ask them.

The exchange illustrates one of the unusual realities Patrick has faced while rebuilding his life.

Every new friendship or relationship eventually requires explaining a tragedy so large that it can be difficult to summarize.

For Rachel, learning about Cora, Dawson and Callan did not end the relationship.

Instead, Patrick’s grief gradually became part of the life they built together.

Rachel Works in Fertility Medicine

Rachel is a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist based in New York.

Her professional work centers on people trying to build families, including those experiencing infertility and other reproductive challenges.

She is also an assistant professor in reproductive medicine.

Her career gives the couple’s pregnancy another layer of personal significance.

Rachel has previously spoken publicly about fertility and reproductive health, while Patrick’s life has become deeply connected to public conversations surrounding postpartum mental health.

The two married in April 2026 during an intimate ceremony in Central Park.

Only months later, Patrick was called to testify in Lindsay’s murder trial.

Patrick Says He Nearly Did Not Survive His Grief

The news of the pregnancy comes after Patrick publicly described just how close he came to giving up after his children died.

He said there was a period when he did not expect to live to see his 35th birthday.

More troublingly, he said he was comfortable with that possibility.

Patrick has described experiencing suicidal thoughts during the darkest phase of his grief.

Therapy, time and relationships eventually helped him begin rebuilding.

Rachel became part of that recovery, but Patrick has emphasized that his new life does not erase what happened.

His first children remain central to his identity as a father.

He Still Remembers Callan’s Final Four Days

Among Patrick’s most emotional memories is the period after Cora and Dawson died.

Callan initially survived.

Patrick said he desperately hoped his youngest child might recover.

He remembered thinking that if Callan survived, he would devote himself completely to raising him and telling him about his brother and sister.

But doctors eventually made clear that Callan would not recover.

Patrick spent his son’s final days beside him.

He wrote tributes to all three children while holding Callan’s hand, afraid that if he did not immediately record the things he remembered about them, small details might eventually disappear.

Callan died in Patrick’s arms four days after the attack.

Patrick has said he remains grateful for those final days despite how painful they were.

Lindsay Clancy’s Case Remains Unresolved

The pregnancy announcement comes while Lindsay’s criminal case remains legally unsettled.

Her trial ended in a mistrial in early September after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether she was criminally responsible for the deaths.

The central issue was her mental state.

Her attorneys argued that severe postpartum psychosis drove her actions.

Prosecutors argued that evidence showed planning and awareness inconsistent with the defense’s position.

Several jurors later said the panel had been split 11-1, with the majority favoring a finding that Lindsay was not criminally responsible.

Prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will pursue another trial.

Patrick has said he believes mental illness caused what happened and that he has forgiven Lindsay.

When asked whether she ever asked for forgiveness, Patrick said she had not.

But he gave it to her anyway.

A New Child Without Replacing the Children He Lost

For Patrick, becoming a father again will inevitably be emotionally complicated.

There will be milestones he once experienced with Cora, Dawson and Callan.

There will likely be reminders of pregnancies, infancy, birthdays and parenting routines associated with the family he lost.

But Patrick has been clear that welcoming another child does not diminish the importance of his first three.

Nor does he view rebuilding his life as abandoning them.

His marriage to Rachel and the child they are now expecting represent a future shaped by the past rather than disconnected from it.

Patrick has said he wants his future children to know Cora, Dawson and Callan through stories.

They will grow up knowing they have an older sister and two older brothers.

Grief and Hope Existing Together

Patrick’s life today contains two realities that may appear contradictory but are not.

He continues grieving three children whose deaths permanently altered him.

And he is excited about becoming a father again.

Rachel is preparing for motherhood while entering a family story that began long before she met Patrick.

Together, they are building something new without asking Patrick to forget what came before.

The pregnancy does not close the story of Cora, Dawson and Callan.

Patrick has made clear that nothing could.

Instead, it adds another chapter to a life he once believed might end shortly after theirs did.

More than three years later, Patrick Clancy is preparing to hold another child.

And when that child is old enough to understand, Patrick already knows one of the stories he wants to tell first — the story of three older siblings named Cora, Dawson and Callan.