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Adrienne Bailon‘s journey to motherhood has not been easy, but she never lost faith! Bailon and her husband Israel Houghton found out that the surrogate she hired was pregnant on Dec. 11, 2021, which became one of the happiest days of their lives.
Despite the joy they felt, Adrienne and Israel decided to keep their pregnancy private from even the closest people in their lives and gave PEOPLE the scoop on their decision to do so.
Honestly, everyone was shocked. 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.’ I did that because it was really sacred to me.”
The former ‘Cheetah Girls’ star had been very open about her conception struggles in the past, she felt it was important to shield herself and her family from possible disappointment this time around.
It was important to me for my own mental wellbeing and for my family. I was just like, ‘I’m just not going to say anything.’ It was actually very peaceful that way. You didn’t have other people’s opinions.”
Adrienne and Israel experienced eight failed IVF cycles and one miscarriage before doctors advised them to explore surrogacy with the only viable embryo Adrienne had at the time. She shared that the process gave her hope, but came with its own emotional trauma.
I got to be honest, even the process of surrogacy can be quite nerve-wracking. Somebody else has your child with them. We call it extreme babysitting for nine months. It can cause you to be really anxious.”
Bailon described he birthing experience as “an absolute miracle,” she revealed she hasn’t given up hope on being able to become pregnant herself in the future. Adrienne revealed doctors discovered that she has five embryos left.
Adrienne and Israel’s first son, Ever James, was born on August 16th.
