How to get dropped from parents health insurance?

I (25M) got married in November 2022 to my wife (23F) and I did not add her to my insurance through my employer during open enrollment/qualifying event period. Last week we found out that we are expecting, and after speaking with her parents (she is still on her mothers health insurance through her mothers employer) we learned that her mothers insurance will not cover any maternity visits/pregnancy related hospital stays. After her mother spoke with her health insurance provider, she told us that they would not allow her to drop coverage for her daughter because my wife does not have other health insurance to fall back on. My employer says they would be able to add her to my plan through a qualifying event if there is a loss of coverage, but without being able to be dropped from her mothers insurance, what are our options?

The only solution we've came up with is attempting to get private insurance, get dropped from her mothers insurance (if what her provider says is true), get added to my employers benefits, and then drop the private insurance, but we aren't even sure if that would work.

I would assume that her mother still has her listed as a dependent and that would be the reason she's unable to be dropped, but I do not know if that's the case or if that would make a difference.

We're located in Tennessee and are not eligible for Medicaid or TennCare due to income. Both of our providers are BCBS.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

submitted by /u/ScottyLong
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