Adrienne Bailon, Israel Houghton. Source: Robin L Marshall / Getty
Adrienne Bailon and her husband Israel Houghton secretly welcomed their first child together via a surrogate. They now have a son named Ever James, who was named after their #happilyeverhoughton wedding hashtag.
Bailon, 38, kept this information under wraps to spare herself from disappointment. Since she was revealing a pregnancy that wasn’t her own, it took away from the happy moment.
“It was important to me for my own mental wellbeing and for my family,” the former The Real host told People. “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.”
The New York native decided to consider surrogacy after she had eight failed in-vitro fertilization cycles and a miscarriage. Having someone else carry her baby spiked her anxiety, she said.
“I got to be honest, even the process of surrogacy can be quite nerve-wracking,” she said. “Somebody else has your child with them. We call it extreme babysitting for nine months. It can cause you to be really anxious. You’re just thinking, ‘Oh, is everything going okay? What’s happening?’ 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.”
She found out her surrogate was pregnant on Dec. 11, 2021. After her son’s birth, she and her surrogate had doulas there for support.
“The birthing experience was incredible,” she continued. “We had multiple doulas. I had a doula for me. She had a doula for her that looked after her for aftercare. Same for me, someone that was there for me emotionally, anything that I needed physically. It was a family affair and absolutely beautiful.”
Doctors found that Bailon has five embryos left, so she will still try to conceive a child with Houghton.
“That’s the ultimate dream for me,” she said. “I’m not giving up on that dream. Maybe I will carry one day and I can’t wait for that. I’m still hoping for that.”
