It's a mother's prerogative: Mariah Carey will announce her pregnancy on her own timetable, not anyone else's.
A pal recently confirmed to Us Weekly that the diva, 41, is "in the early stages of pregnancy," but wants to wait until after the first trimester to share the news.
Yet even her husband of two years Nick Cannon let it slip on May 30 when chatting with fans in Malibu. "Her bump is bigger," he gushed. "You can almost see it now…I'm very excited!"
But Cannon, 29, is now defending his wife's silence on the subject. "If & when my wife is ready to make ANY announcements about private matters she will do it personally," he wrote on Twitter Wednesday night. "Thanks for being respectful GodBless."
The America's Got Talent host added: "My heart goes out to any woman who has to deal with public scrutiny and speculation pertaining to their private life REAL TALK!"
On Thursday morning, he reiterated the point on his radio show. "I'm pretty sure that when my wife is ready to make any announcement it won't be to the media, to the public, first," he said. "She'll tell her family, she'll tell her friends, and then, you know, when she's ready to share with the rest of the world, who is her extended family and friends, then she'll let everybody know."
PHOTOS: Mariah's startling makeunder
Baby talk grew to a fever pitch on May 25, when Carey abruptly pulled out of Tyler Perry's film For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuff, citing "doctor's orders."
The diva declined further comment on the matter. She has said in the past that becoming a mom "would be the happiest thing in my life." Hubby Cannon, she cooed, would "be the best dad!"
