'The Real' Adrienne Bailon & Israel Houghton Kept News Of First Child A Secret For 9 Months!
By Fiyin Olowokandi on August 17, 2022 at 7:00 PM EDT
"The Real" alum Adrienne Bailon and her husband Israel Houghton couldn't be happier! The lovebirds are on cloud nine as they welcomed their first child via a surrogate.
The former talk show co-host has been open and candid about her struggle with infertility, and the news of a healthy baby boy fills the hearts of her fans with so much joy!
Adrienne Bailon & Israel Houghton Welcome First Child Together
Bailon and Houghton shared the incredible news via a joint post on Instagram. The new parents unveiled their newborn son in a heartwarming photo of them doting on the little one.
Proud mama Bailon cuddled her infant son against her chest while the gospel singer hugged his beautiful family from behind while staring at his son.
"Ever James ♾ 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 caption of the heart-melting black-and-white post began.
"The Cheetah Girls" star 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."
The couple revealed that they had been quietly praying while "sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months." Showering love on their son Ever James, the doting parents wrote, "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."
The moving post concluded, "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 🤍."
The post has garnered over 600K likes with an outpouring of love and support from colleagues and fans who are thrilled with the news.
View this post on Instagram
Khloe Kardashian, a good friend of Bailon, wrote, "I am so beyond happy for you A!!! He is the luckiest little boy to have you both as his parents. You are going to be the most incredible mommy! I love you! Enjoy every second ❤️."
Model Nazanin Mandi commented, "I’m am sooo happy for you both! 😢😍Blessings xoxo," while Angela Simmons added, "Awwwwwwww Congratulations 😍❤️❤️❤️."
A Look At 'The Real' Co-Host's Infertility Struggles
The "I'm In Love With A Church Girl" star and Houghton walked down the aisle in 2016 and it has been five long years to get to this point. The television personality has been very about her desire to have kids of her own and never shies away from talking about it on the daytime talk show.
During a previous episode of "The Real," Bailon got vulnerable with her co-hosts and the audience about her struggle, saying, "I am either the most resilient human being or I am wildly delusional…We get these bad notices and it’ll be like ‘and it didn’t work this time’ or you know, I’ve done multiple cycles of IVF and so many other things, and I’ll be sad for a day, like I literally will cry."
She continued, "And like the next day, I know this sounds psychotic, I’ll be like, ‘OK, I found three new baby names.’ 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. And I promised myself that I’m sticking to it [and] that it will happen."
In another 2018 episode, Bailon admitted that she always assumed getting pregnant would be easy for her and the "Alpha and Omega" singer. Nevertheless, she remained positive about achieving her dreams of becoming a mother and it has indeed come true!
Baby Ever is the first child of the "Coach Carter" actress and the fifth for Houghton who has four kids from his previous relationship. Congratulations to the couple!