Adrienne Bailon and Husband Welcome First Baby via Surrogate After Infertility Struggle
“The Real” talk show host Adrienne Bailon, 38, just welcomed her first child with husband Israel Houghton, 51. Bailon took to Instagram to share the arrival of adorable Ever James via surrogate, and to also touch on her past struggles with infertility.
The singer and actress posted a gorgeous black and white snapshot of herself, her husband and newborn baby boy Ever James, describing: “For this child we have prayed… Just to hear our baby cry… Skin to skin and face to face… Heart to heart and eye to eye.”
“The Cheetah Girls” actress decided to be as candid as can be in her caption, and get real about her difficulties with IVF treatments and even miscarriages. Saying they “are so in love” with their newborn, she explained that their “journey to baby has been very challenging.”
She further explained how Ever James is worth “every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage,” the couple encountered while trying to make their dreams of having a baby come true.
Bailon was also frank about the power of prayer, not just saying that “God is true to His word and His promises,” but admitting that both her and her husband “have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months.”
Feeling “joy and overwhelming love & gratitude,” upon their child’s arrival, the couple also made a shout-out to their “angel surrogate” who helped them welcome their bundle of joy. Bailon tied up the message with, “we have never been happier to lose sleep,” and yes, we’re happy-crying for her, too.
The talk show host has been deeply honest about her struggles regarding infertility in the past, which has surely helped countless women all over the world going through similar difficulties.
On one 2020 episode of “The Real,” Bailon shared, “There’s so many preconceived notions, like having wide hips and the fact that I’m Latina — I thought that if my husband looked at me I’d get pregnant.” Touching on the stereotypes that led some to believe she would get pregnant quickly, Bailon also remarked how many fans thought she was expecting because her face was “fuller,” but explained she just has a “chubby face so that’s not what it is.”
The actress called many people’s comments “insensitive,” and said, “I think for myself I thought it would happen so easily for me and it just hasn’t happened that way.” Still, always putting her faith first, the star described how she’s “come to peace” with “God’s timing,” saying, “I believe in that.”
Bailon found the process “discouraging” and “frustrating” but never lost hope she would have a child one day. In fact, she also explained on the talk show how even after failed IVF cycles, which left her in tears, she would find “three new baby names” by the next day. She described, “I know this sounds psychotic… I don’t know why, I refuse to let this be the end of my story. I know that it’s not. And I love it that I tell myself, it’s not a question of will I be a mother, it’s a question of when.”
The actress also once told OK! Magazine that there’s “a realness to the fact that not everybody gets pregnant the first time they try,” and it wasn’t that way for her. She mentioned how important it is to “normalize the conversation” surrounding difficulties getting pregnant, and that “everyone’s journey to having a baby is not the same.”
As Bailon explained, all births are “miracles from heaven,” and we could not agree more. Congrats to the happy couple!
