Surrogacy Journey: Adrienne Bailon Houghton and Israel Houghton have welcomed first child via surrogacy
Adrienne Bailon and husband Israel Houghton have welcomed their first child via gestational carrier: "He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle... everything."
Adrienne Bailon Houghton announced August 16th that she has welcomed her son via surrogacy. The announcement came as a surprise to all but her closest friends and family, as the actress and host decided to keep her pregnancy and surrogacy journey private.
She told People that “everyone was shocked” to learn the news. "Even my sister, who watched The Real throughout the whole last season, literally said to me, 'Adrienne, I am impressed.' She's like, 'I am so proud of you. You are really holding this.'”
“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 announcement came after a long fertility struggle for Adrienne Bailon Houghton and her husband, Israel Houghton. She has been open about her fertility journey and shared her experiences on her talk show The Real in 2018. When her co-host asked about her family-building journey, Bailon got candid about her struggles, saying, “It isn’t what I thought it would be.”
“I think so many people are very insensitive to that, in the sense I know you guys are like, ‘Is she pregnant?’ Her face is fuller,’” Bailon said. “I think that as an audience we should be sensitive to the fact that everybody doesn’t get pregnant right away.”
Bailon continued, sharing that she had originally expected a completely different journey to family. “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… 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,” she said. “But it can be really discouraging and it can be really frustrating.”
Now, years after opening up about her family-building struggles with millions of viewers, the actress shared about the new path she took to pregnancy. Over the years of their fertility journey, Bailon and Houghton experienced eight failed in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles and a miscarriage. Bailon and Houghton ended up exploring surrogacy with the encouragement of their doctor and ultimately chose to keep their surrogate pregnancy private.
I got to be honest, even the process of surrogacy can be quite nerve-wracking," Bailon told People. "Somebody else has your child with them.” In this time of uncertainty, Adrienne explained that keeping the news private helped her stay calm and hopeful. “I feel like having people ask me, 'How's everything going?' That was going to make me that much more anxious, so I just wanted to have peace and have a little joy that I could hold for myself every day and something to look forward to.
To announce the birth of her son, Adrienne shared an emotional post detailing her fertility experiences and surrogacy journey - as well as the complicated emotions the process brought her. “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.”
“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,” Bailon continued. “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!”
We are so happy for Adrienne Bailon Houghton and Israel Houghton for their successful surrogate pregnancy. At Donor Concierge, we always appreciate public figures who open up about their unique paths to family and shine a light on third-party fertility.
If you are considering starting your surrogacy journey or would like to learn about family-building options, our team is here to help. Interested in building your family with Donor Concierge? Schedule your free consultation today.
