Adrienne Bailon has announced her and husband Israel Houghton, 51, have welcomed a son via surrogate.
The singer/host, 38, shared a photo of her holding their newborn, revealing his name as Ever James.
Adrienne wrote: ‘We have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last nine months,’ adding that they feel ‘love and gratitude’ for God, their surrogate, friends and family who have been with them on their ‘challenging’ journey to parenthood that spanned five years.
Happy news: Adrienne Bailon has announced her and husband Israel Houghton have welcomed a son via surrogate
Adrienne cradled Ever in her arms with Israel looking over her shoulder at their baby boy.
The star wrote a touching message about the five year journey it took to become parents, revealing that they experience miscarriages and tried IVF.
The couple welcomed Ever via a surrogate, and opted to keep the entire pregnancy a secret.
Adrienne posted a poem about her son in the caption, writing: ‘Ever James [Infinity emoji]. 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…’
Mom: The singer/host, 38, shared a photo of her holding their newborn, revealing his name as Ever James; seen March 27, 202 in West Hollywood
Adrienne continued: ‘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 whiloe sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months.’
‘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.’
Adding: ‘He’s here and we have never been happier to lose sleep! #HappilyEverHoughton,’ adding a heart emoji.
Blessed: Adrienne continued: ‘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 whiloe sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months;’ seen together May 3, 2019
Adrienne has been open in her struggles to get pregnant, speaking to the audience for The Real in 2018.
At the time, she said the process of getting pregnant ‘isn’t what I thought it would be,’ via People.
The Cheetah Girls star said that people are ‘very insensitive to that,’ in the sense [that] I know you guys are like, “Is she pregnant?” “Her face is fuller” – FYI I’ve always had a really chubby face so that’s not what it is.’
‘I think that as an audience we should be sensitive to the fact that everybody doesn’t get pregnant right away. I think for myself I thought it would happen so easily for me and it just hasn’t happened that way.’
Adding: ‘I’ve had to come to peace with that it’ll happen when it’s God’s timing and I believe in that and I have faith in all of that. But it can be really discouraging and it can be really frustrating.’
‘I think I looked at myself and in my mind I was like, “I’m a Cheetah Girl, I’m 19 years old” and then I woke up and was like actually I’m going to be 35 in a few weeks and that makes a big difference. I can feel as youthful as I want in the inside and in my heart, but my ovaries are what they are and that sucks to hear that,’ she said at the time.
Adrienne also told The Real audience during the 2018 conversation that she always thought her ‘having wide hips and the fact that I’m Latina – I thought that if my husband looked at me I’d get pregnant. I really believed that and it just hasn’t been that way.’
Adrienne and Israel, a gospel singer, tied the knot in 2016 in a Paris.
He has four children from a previous relationship: Mariah, Milan, Jordan and Israel.
Speaking out: Adrienne has been open in her struggles to get pregnant, speaking to the audience for The Real in 2018; seen September 10, 2021 in NYC