Adrienne Bailon has announced that she and her husband Israel Houghton, 51, have welcomed a son through a surrogate mother.
The singer/host, 38, shared a photo of her holding their newborn and revealed his name as Ever James.
Adrienne wrote: ‘We have been praying quietly for the past nine months while sitting on this most magnificent secret’, adding that they feel ‘love and gratitude’ for God, their surrogate, friends and family who were with them during their ‘challenge’ journey to parenthood that lasted five years.
Happy news: Adrienne Bailon has announced that her and her husband Israel Houghton have welcomed a son via surrogate mother
Adrienne cradled Ever in her arms as Israel looked over her shoulder at their son.
The star wrote a touching post about the five-year journey it took to become a parent, revealing that they had miscarriages and tried IVF.
The couple welcomed Ever through a surrogate and chose to keep the entire pregnancy a secret.
Adrienne posted a poem about her son in the caption: ‘Ever James’ [Infinity emoji]. We prayed for this child. Just to hear our baby cry. Skin to skin and face to face. From heart to heart and eye to eye…’
Mother: The singer/host, 38, shared a photo of her holding their newborn and revealed his name as Ever James; seen on March 27, 202 in West Hollywood
Adrienne continued: ‘Our baby boy is here and we are so in love! If you’ve been following our love story… you know that our journey to a baby was quite a challenge – But God is faithful to His word and His promises. We’ve been praying quietly for the past 9 months while sitting on this most magnificent secret.’
He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every prayer postponed, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage. Everything. All we feel is joy and overwhelming love and gratitude. Thankful to God, to our angel surrogate, and to all our friends and family who have been with us on this journey for over 5 years.”
Add: ‘He’s here and we’ve never been happier sleeping! #HappilyEverHoughton,” adds a heart emoji.
Blessed: Adrienne continued: ‘Our baby boy is here and we are so in love! If you’ve been following our love story… you know that our journey to a baby was quite a challenge – But God is faithful to His word and His promises. We have been praying quietly for the past 9 months while sitting on this most magnificent secret;’ seen together May 3, 2019
Adrienne has been open about her battle to conceive, speaking to the public 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 people are “very insensitive to that,” in the sense of [that] I know you guys are like, “Is she pregnant?” “Her face is plumper” – FYI, I’ve always had a really chubby face, so it’s not.”
‘I think we as a public should be sensitive to the fact that not everyone gets pregnant right away. I think to myself I thought it would happen so easily for me and it just didn’t work out that way.’
Adding: “I’ve had to come to terms with it happening when it’s God’s timing and I believe in that and I have faith in all of that. But it can be very discouraging and very frustrating.’
“I think I looked at myself and in my mind I thought, ‘I’m a Cheetah Girl, I’m 19 years old’ and then I woke up and I thought I was going to be 35 in a few weeks and that makes a big difference . I can feel as youthful as I want inside and in my heart, but my ovaries are what they are and it sucks to hear that,” she said at the time.
Adrienne also told the real audience during the 2018 talk that she always thought she had “wide hips and the fact that I’m Latina – I thought 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 a Paris in 2016.
He has four children from a previous relationship: Mariah, Milan, Jordan and Israel.
Speaking: Adrienne has been open about her battle to conceive, speaking to audiences for The Real in 2018; seen on September 10, 2021 in NYC