Paris Hilton, 41, is now a mother. The heiress and media personality took to Instagram on Wednesday morning, posting a close-up picture of a baby gripping her thumb.
"You are already loved beyond words," wrote Hilton who, with her husband businessman Carter Reum, welcomed a baby boy via surrogacy.
"It's always been my dream to be a mother, and I'm so happy that Carter and I found each other," Hilton told People in an interview. "We are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our baby boy."
The couple tied the knot in late 2021, and have since been vocal about plans to have a baby. Hilton said she and Reum began in-vitro fertilisation at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In December last year, the entertainer-turned-businesswoman said they were "always planning on 2023" as their target year to have a child.
"We just wanted to really enjoy our first year of marriage together as a couple. And we're just, you know, getting the eggs all ready," Hilton told E!.
Other celebrities were quick to congratulate Hilton, including Chrissy Teigen, Demi Lovato and Kim Kardashian, who also opted for surrogacy for her youngest two children with Kanye West.
Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson has become a mother for the first time, announcing the birth of her daughter, Royce Lillian, via surrogacy this week.
The Pitch Perfect star announced the news on Instagram, describing her new daughter as a "beautiful miracle".
“Beyond proud to announce the birth of my first child, Royce Lillian, born this past week via surrogate,” she wrote.
“I can’t even describe the love I have for her, she’s a beautiful miracle! I am forever grateful to everyone who has been involved, (you know who you are), this has been years in the making … but particularly wanted to thank my gorgeous surrogate who carried her and birthed her with such grace and care. Thank you for helping me start my own family, it’s an amazing gift.
Wilson has talked openly about her fertility struggles in the past and how a visit to the fertility doctor in 2019 inspired her to embark on a health overhaul.
"It's almost like I didn't think of my own needs. I thought of a future child's needs that really inspired me to get healthier," she said in a recent interview with People in May.
Wilson is not the only famous face to welcome a child via surrogacy.
Here's a look at some other celebrities who have, too.
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas announced the arrival of their first child, a daughter named Malti Marie, through surrogacy, on Instagram in January.
“We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate,” the couple’s joint statement read. “We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family.”
The couple later revealed that baby Malti spent more than 100 days in a neonatal intensive care unit, calling the first few months of her life a "roller coaster".
“After 100-plus days in the NICU, our little girl is finally home,” she said in an Instagram post marking Mother's Day in May. “Every family’s journey is unique and requires a certain level of faith, and while ours was a challenging few months, what becomes abundantly clear, in retrospect, is how precious and perfect every moment is.”
She thanked the doctors and nurses at the Rady Children’s and Cedar Sinai hospitals, and said: “Our next chapter begins now."
Amber Heard
Actress Amber Heard revealed that she had become a mum “on her own terms” as a single parent via surrogacy in July. In an Instagram post, the Aquaman star said she welcomed daughter Oonagh Paige Heard on April 8 as she shared a photo with the baby nestled against her.
"I now appreciate how radical it is for us as women to think about one of the most fundamental parts of our destinies in this way," Heard said in the post. "I hope we arrive at a point in which it's normalised to not want a ring in order to have a crib."
She wrote that "a part of me wants to uphold that my private life is none of anyone's business," but said the nature of her job "compels me to take control of this" by revealing the birth.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick
Star couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have three children. Their first was born when Parker was 37 but when they tried for another, she couldn’t get pregnant. At 40, she was told she had secondary infertility, or the inability to conceive or carry a child in women who have given birth before. When she was 43, the couple decided to use a surrogate and welcomed twins Marion and Tabitha in 2009.
“We didn’t expect it,” Parker said in an interview with Access Hollywood. “I think after a certain amount of time, you tend to hold your hopes at bay a bit so as not to be disappointed. One really would have been thrilling and we would’ve felt incredibly lucky. And two was a comedy.”
Kristen Wiig and Avi Rothman
Funnywoman Kristen Wigg and her husband Avi Rothman welcomed twins through surrogacy in December 2021. "We're cruising, crawling, they're very close to starting to walk around... yeah they're going to fight back and they're twins so they're going to team up," the Bridesmaids star joked.
Wiig said that after years of fertility struggles, she finally accepted surrogacy as an option but was open with InStyle magazine about the ups and downs of the process.
“So many things were bittersweet,” Wiig admitted. “I was over the moon feeling them kick for the first time, but then I would get in my head and ask myself all these questions, like, ‘Why couldn’t I do this?’ At the same time, I would tell myself it didn’t matter. She was giving us the greatest gift, and I just wanted them to get here.”
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade
Actress Gabrielle Union and NBA star Dwyane Wade welcomed their daughter Kaavia James Union Wade in November 2018. Union hasn’t been shy about her journey to surrogacy after several pregnancy losses, in a published essay from her book You Got Anything Stronger? in which she reflects on Kaavia’s birth.
"I had hoped that the second I saw her, there would be a moment of locking in," Union said. "I looked over at [the surrogate] Natalie and her husband. There was a stillness to them. I looked at Kaavia James on the table, and then back at them. It took all of us to create her, so I wanted to share this time with them."
Jimmy Fallon and Nancy Juvonen
After trying for five years to get pregnant, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and his wife Nancy Juvonen decide to opt for surrogacy, with daughters Winnie Rose born in 2013, followed by Frances Cole in 2014. “My wife and I had been trying a while to have a baby. We tried a bunch of things – so we had a surrogate,” Fallon told the Today show.
Ellen Pompeo and Chris Ivery
Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo gave birth to her first daughter, Stella Luna, with husband Chris Ivery, in 2009. The couple, who wed in November 2007, welcomed their second, Sienna May, via surrogacy in 2014. They had a third child, a boy named Eli Christopher, in 2016. He is presumed to have been born via a surrogate, too, according to reports, although the couple have not officially commented on this.
"This is an incredible thing to do with your life, to give the gift of carrying someone’s child. I am forever grateful and feel very blessed and grateful to her – she who will remain anonymous,” she said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2014.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
Powerhouse couple Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are parents to two daughters, Sunday and Faith. While Kidman gave birth to Sunday in 2008, Faith was born via a surrogate in 2011. The actress also has two adopted children with her ex-husband Tom Cruise.
"I think because I've experienced motherhood in so many different ways," she said in an interview with CNN. "I've experienced adoption, birthing a child and I've experienced surrogacy. I'm like when it comes to it, I just want to be a mama."
Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman
Actress Elizabeth Banks and sportswriter and film producer husband Max Handelman have two sons, Felix and Magnus Mitchell, born via surrogacy. The couple tried to get pregnant for years but couldn’t. “It was a womb issue for me. Embryos wouldn’t implant,” Banks said in an interview with People magazine. However, she said she couldn’t be happier with the final results.
"It's a big leap, inviting this person into your life to do this amazing, important thing for you," she said. "And it's hard losing that kind of control. But our surrogate is so extraordinary, and she's still in our lives. She's like an auntie."
Tyra Banks and Erik Asla
Model and TV host Tyra Banks and her former partner Erik Asla are parents to son York, who was born in 2016. After years of trying to become pregnant, the couple turned to gestational surrogacy to have a child.
“As we thank the angel of a woman who carried our miracle baby boy for us, we pray for everyone who struggles to reach this joyous milestone," Banks posted on Instagram after the birth of her baby.
Preity Zinta and Gene Goodenough
Bollywood actress Preity Zinta took to social media to announce that she and her husband welcomed twins through surrogacy in November.
“Hi everyone, I wanted to share our amazing news with all of you today. Gene and I are overjoyed and our hearts are filled with so much gratitude and with so much love as we welcomed our twins Jai Zinta Goodenough and Gia Zinta Goodenough into our family,” the actress posted on Twitter.
“We are very excited about this new phase in our lives. A heartfelt thank you to the doctors, nurses and to our surrogate for being part of this incredible journey. Loads of love and light – Gene, Preity, Jai and Gia,” she said.
This story was originally published in January 2022
