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Singer and TV host Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is mother to a beautiful 3.5-month-old boy, and she’s savoring every minute of it (including running out of camera storage on her phone). Many new parents love to gush over their newborn, but for Bailon-Houghton, her joy stems from years of equal parts heartache and hope. “It took me six years to have my son,” she shared in a Jan. 3 episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”
“I think for such a long time it was a quiet journey I had with just myself,” she told Hudson. “I didn’t expect it would be so hard for me to have a child. I don’t think women really talk about fertility issues.”
After eight unsuccessful IVF cycles within five years, she had just one embryo left to use. She had to decide to either place the last one in her body, which previously resulted in multiple miscarriages, or she could go with a surrogate. In August 2022, she and her husband, Grammy-winning music producer Israel Houghton, welcomed their son, Ever James, via surrogate.
Of course, she admits it’s not initially what she thought motherhood would look like for her. “It just wasn’t what I imagined would be my journey. And I think that’s what hurts us the most in life — the idea of what’s ‘supposed to be,'” she said. But now, she said, “I would not change a thing about it.” Sharing the birthing story with Hudson, she said, “I pulled him out myself. I put him right on me, and we did skin-to-skin. I’m the first touch he ever experienced.”
And while the 38-year-old is overjoyed with her experience, she has yet to give up hope on experiencing pregnancy for herself. “I’m literally the most delusional person or maybe the most hopeful human being.” No matter what happens, she said, “I’ve been blessed.”
Now, the former cohost of “The Real” is planning to launch a new YouTube channel, Happily Ever Houghton, where she can share even more openly about her experience. “For a long time I wasn’t able to talk about my fertility journey because I felt like I didn’t have any hope. Now I feel like I have information, and I’ve been through so much, and I don’t want people to feel alone like I did.”
But if you can’t wait until then, don’t worry, because she’s taking plenty of photos of her baby boy to document everything. “I had to get a whole other phone,” she said. “I’m in bliss.”