Mickey Guyton is going to be a boy mom.
In the new issue of PEOPLE, the rising country singer-songwriter exclusively reveals that she and her husband Grant Savoy will welcome a son in February.
"This baby is an absolute miracle," says Guyton, 37.
The Waco, Texas, native learned she was expecting over the summer, just days after she released her soaring anthem "Black Like Me" in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police.
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Guyton, one of the few Black artists in Nashville, says her pregnancy has weighed heavily on her.
"I've seen racial injustice happen to my husband. I've had a 'Karen' falsely make claims against him and say some of the most heinous things, like the N-word. I'm growing this Black child in my belly that is going to have to face this," she says. "I pray for him."
As the star prepares for parenthood — she and her husband, an attorney, bought a stroller and are decorating the nursery at their home in Downtown Los Angeles — Guyton hopes to give her child a brighter future.
"I just want this baby to just have its own life and have its own choices," she says, "and I will accept this baby for who or whatever it chooses to be. I just want to support it in every way that I can."
Finding Her Voice, Mickey Guyton Stirs Hearts with 'Black Like Me': 'God Put It on My Heart'
Still, the news of her pregnancy caught her off-guard.
"I was just a complete deer in the headlights and completely shocked and terrified and scared," she says. "In my mind, as a woman in the music industry, you think, 'Oh, I can't be pregnant and have a career. I can't be a mom and have a career.' I thought those things. I had to just completely do some deprogramming in my mind and realize that we all deserve happiness and we all deserve a family."
Guyton has been hustling to achieve her Nashville dream for more than a decade. This year, "Black Like Me" and her new single "Heaven Down Here" have helped her carve her own path in country music.
And Guyton finally felt she arrived last month, when she performed her striking ballad "What Are You Gonna Tell Her?" at the Academy of Country Music Awards, making history as the first Black female artist to perform solo at the show.
Today, Guyton is inspired to use her voice for change and will be "fighting more than ever," she says.
"Now that people are listening, I'm telling you: Not only is there discrimination happening to Black people, there's discrimination happening to white women within this country music industry that we need to address," says Guyton, referring to data that reveal that female artists accounted for only 10 percent of radio airplay in 2019. "It's so important to bring diversity and inclusion."
As she prepares for motherhood, Guyton is also mentoring other young Black women who want to make it in Nashville.
"I've been beaten down pretty bad, but I'm not scared anymore," she says. "If people are upset with what I have to say, I'm doing something right."
For more on Mickey Guyton, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
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