Surprise! Adrienne Bailon and husband Israel Houghton have welcomed their first child, a baby boy, via surrogate.
The Cheetah Girls star, 38, announced the news via Instagram on Tuesday, August 16. “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,” she wrote alongside a black-and-white family photo. “Our baby boy is here & we are so in love!”
The couple, who have been married since 2016, kept their pregnancy journey under wraps. “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 new mom continued. “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.”
Bailon noted that she was basking in “overwhelming love & gratitude” after her son’s arrival. “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 🤍,” she concluded.
Months before Ever’s arrival, the former cohost of The Real clapped back at an Instagram troll who suggested Bailon and Houghton’s marriage was in “crisis” because they hadn’t welcomed kids yet. “Me happy with the man I chose with or without a baby — is a beautiful thing lol. You commenting this 😂 sounds like you are in crisis,” the former Disney Channel star fired back in November 2021.
At the time, Bailon was marking her fifth wedding anniversary. “I can’t believe 5 years have flown by so quickly!” she captioned a sweet tribute to the music producer. “I always thought we’d wait for like some marriage crisis to watch the video & remember why we got married … but nah … it’s been smooth sailing over here & I just got curious! Lol.”
She added that the duo celebrated their love by “watch[ing] our wedding video & cried a little & laughed A LOT!”
The Daytime Emmy winner previously dated Rob Kardashian from 2007 to 2009 and was briefly engaged to Roc Nation exec Lenny Santiago in 2015. Bailon exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2018 that it was “funny” how much fans still talk about her relationship with Kardashian, now 35, years after their split.
“It really is the shortest relationship I’ve ever had,” she teased at the time, reflecting on her Keeping Up With the Kardashians appearance during the romance. “It’s reality TV, and I used to get so annoyed by that, but I don’t now. Now, I’m just like, ‘It is what it is.’”
