Congrats are in order for Adrienne Bailon Houghton and her husband Israel Houghton! The couple made the exciting announcement that they are now parents to a newborn baby via surrogate. The news was shared on Instagram with a black and white photo of the couple and their son Ever James Houghton. The caption on the post was equally adorable as the photo as they gushed over their baby boy.
“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…,” they wrote.
“Our baby boy is here & we are so in love! If you have followed our love story… you know that our journey to baby has been very challenging - But God is true to His word and His promises. We have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months.”
It continued, “He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage. Everything. All we feel is joy and overwhelming love & gratitude. Grateful to God, to our angel surrogate and to all of our friends and family who have stood with us for over 5 years on this journey. He’s here and we have never been happier to lose sleep!
#HappilyEverHoughton 🤍”
How sweet!
Adrienne has been vocal about her pregnancy journey during her time on The Real. In a September 2018 episode, the singer shared what the journey of getting pregnant was like for her. “I think that as an audience we should be sensitive to the fact that everybody doesn’t get pregnant right away,” she said, “I think for myself I thought it would happen so easily for me and it just hasn’t happened that way.”
And in a more recent episode, she revealed “I’ve done multiple cycles of IVF and so many other things” but managed to keep her faith in becoming a mother.
This is Adrienne’s first child and Israel’s fifth as he shares four kids with his ex-wife.
The TV personality joins a list of other celeb moms who conceived kids via surrogate.
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Union decided to look into surrogacy after experiencing a number of miscarriages.
“People have all kinds of fears and things that they want,” the actress said in an interview with Shondaland. “Some want [the surrogate to follow] a specific religion; or to allow TV, or no TV; or they send audio files for the surrogate to play your voice so it can be heard along with the household voices.”
“For us, we wanted: She has her own kids, a husband, she’s done this before, she knew what she was doing,” she added. “There was no need for us to micromanage.”
Tyra Banks
On January 16, 2016, Tyra Banks revealed that she used a surrogate to have a child with her partner. The supermodel made the announcement on Instagram.
“The best present we worked and prayed so hard for is finally here. He's got my fingers and big eyes and his daddy Erik's mouth and chin,” she wrote. “As we thank the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us, we pray for everyone who struggles to reach this joyous milestone. York Banks Asla, welcome to the world.”
Kandi Burruss
Kandi Burruss has a total of three kids but had her youngest child Blaze Tucker through surrogacy. She dished out her feelings about taking the surrogacy route in an interview with Essence.
“I’m very okay with my decision to use a surrogate,” she said. “Seeing our surrogate Shadina [carrying our daughter] is not making me feel bad or taking anything away from me. My baby is my baby and she was a blessing to us to help us get our baby.”
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Featured image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation