The Tragic Reality for Taylor Parker’s Two Kids After Her Death Row Conviction and Pregnancy Lie

The story of Taylor Parker gripped the nation when it first emerged, and it is gripping viewers all over again. Parker is now the subject of ‘Maternal Instinct’, an investigative documentary streaming on Netflix starting Friday, June 12, directed by Jessica Dimmock. While most of the public discussion has centered on her elaborate pregnancy hoax and the murder of Reagan Simmons-Hancock, far less attention has been paid to the two real children Parker left behind.

Parker had welcomed a daughter and a son before she met hog farmer Wade Griffin and began a whirlwind romance, eventually convincing Griffin she was pregnant with what would have been her third child. What she never told him, and what the courts would later confirm, is that she had been medically incapable of pregnancy for years. The fate of her actual children in the wake of her conviction is a story that is only now receiving the scrutiny it deserves.

Taylor Parker’s Daughter and the Father Who Never Showed Up

Parker was just 17 years old when she gave birth to a daughter she shared with then-boyfriend Donald Whiteside, according to court records. The relationship did not last. Jennifer Whiteside, the biological aunt of Parker’s daughter, testified that the relationship did not last long because Donald was cheating on Taylor, so she packed up and moved out.

Jennifer also confirmed that Donald has never seen his daughter, and Parker’s mother Shonna Prior testified that her granddaughter has only ever known Parker’s first husband, Tommy Wacasey, as her father.

The daughter’s biological father was not simply absent by circumstance. Prior testified that the child’s father, Donald Whiteside Jr., had jumped jobs in order to avoid having his wages garnished to pay court-ordered child support. It is a detail that paints an early picture of instability around Parker’s children long before the crimes that would define her legacy.

The family had done their best to try to protect Parker’s daughter, even getting her a counselor shortly after the arrest. “She does not know the horrific details,” Prior testified. “She knows that two people have died at the hands of her mother.” Prior was then granted custody of her granddaughter, who also continued to spend time with the Wacasey family, according to court testimony.

Taylor Parker’s Son and a Divorce That Decided His Future

Parker’s second child, a son, came from her marriage to Tommy Wacasey. When she was 21, she gave birth to a son she shared with Wacasey. During the pregnancy, she suffered from pre-eclampsia, a dangerous condition that can raise a mother’s blood pressure, which led to Parker getting her tubes tied to prevent a future pregnancy. The marriage ultimately fell apart, and the son’s custody arrangements would become a major theme during Parker’s sentencing.

Parker willingly conceded custody of her son during the divorce settlement with Wacasey. This detail was not lost on the court or on those who knew Griffin.

Connie Griffin, Wade Griffin’s mother, testified in court that she sensed something might be off about Parker, noting, “She seemed to want a close relationship. I could not tell if he wanted that or was standing back. There were some red flags. One was that she didn’t have custody of her son.”

Wacasey testified during the legal proceedings, alleging to the court that Parker never paid child support or lived up to her visitation rights with their son. According to prosecutors, Parker owed more than $8,000 in child support. The picture drawn at trial was of a woman who had largely stepped back from the practicalities of motherhood long before the October 2020 crime.

The Pregnancy Hoax That Shattered What Remained

In the months leading up to the murder, Parker had disguised herself to look pregnant, faked ultrasounds, made social media posts alleging she was pregnant and had a gender reveal. Parker could not conceive following her hysterectomy. The elaborate deception was sustained for roughly ten months.

A state police investigator testified that Parker viewed numerous YouTube videos on delivering and caring for babies, and on the day of the killing, she watched a video on the physical exam of an infant delivered pre-term at 35 weeks. Simmons-Hancock had a 35-week pregnancy when she was killed.

On October 9, 2020, Parker crept into Simmons-Hancock’s home in New Boston and attacked her with a scalpel. Authorities said Parker sliced Simmons-Hancock, who was about 34 weeks pregnant at the time, from hip to hip and pulled out her uterus.

She was pulled over shortly after, the newborn still on her lap. The baby was taken to hospital and pronounced dead. Reagan Simmons-Hancock’s 3-year-old daughter was at home when her mother was killed.

Where Taylor Parker Is Today and What Her Kids Face Going Forward

Parker went on trial and was convicted of the murder of Hancock and her baby in October 2022. She was sentenced to death and remains on death row at the Texas Department of Corrections’ O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas.

The legal road since then has been one closed door after another. In November 2025, Parker’s appeal of her kidnapping conviction was denied. More recently, in May 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a plea to hear her case without explanation regarding her death sentence.

For her children, the documentary’s arrival on Netflix means their mother’s story is once again being discussed across dinner tables and social feeds. During Parker’s sentencing hearing, defense attorney Jeff Harrelson painted her as a caring mother, sharing photos of weekend trips, family gatherings and days at the pool.

That portrait collides sharply with the evidence that she abandoned financial and parental obligations to both of her children for years before the crime. Both kids now live in the long shadow of a case that shows no sign of fading from the public consciousness, and the question of how they process their mother’s legacy as they grow older is one that only they will be able to answer.

If you watched ‘Maternal Instinct’ and found yourself thinking about what Parker’s children might be going through as this documentary resurfaces everything, share your thoughts below.