20 celebrities who welcomed kids via surrogates

The reality star and her rapper husband used a surrogate for the birth of their now-one-year-old daughter Chicago after Kim had two awful pregnancy experiences with her first two children, five-year-old North and three-year-old Saint. During those pregnancies, Kim suffered from many complications including placenta accreta, a dangerous condition where the placenta doesn’t detach from the uterus after birth. After those experiences, her doctors advised against her getting pregnant again, saying it could be potentially fatal for her and the baby, which is why they opted for a surrogate. On May 10, 2019, Kim announced on her Twitter that her fourth child—a yet unnamed boy—was also born via surrogate. Congrats to the happy family!

Surprise! The actor and her basketball player husband had not previously announced that they were expecting, but they welcomed their new daughter (and first child together!) via surrogate on November 7, 2018. They haven’t released the name of their little girl, but Union posted some adorable pictures on her Instagram of them getting some sweet skin-to-skin time in. Union had revealed in her 2017 memoir that she struggled with eight or nine miscarriages within the span of three years, so we’re glad to see her dream of motherhood finally coming true!

Jimmy Fallon and his wife, Nancy Juvonen, are proud parents to daughters Winnie Rose (born in July 2013) and Frances Cole (December 2014), but their road to parenthood wasn’t easy. The couple struggled with infertility for five years before welcoming Winnie through a surrogate. During an interview with the Today show, Jimmy spoke about the process of conceiving Winnie. “We’ve tried a bunch of things. Anyone who’s tried will know, it’s just awful.” Because of their many failed attempts, they kept quiet about using a surrogate. “We tried before, we told people and then it didn’t happen. And it’s just really depressing. It’s really hard on everybody.”

Ellen Pompeo and her husband Chris Ivery have three kids together, but it wasn’t an easy road for them to conceive after the actress gave birth to their first child, Stella Luna, in October 2009. Their daughter, Sienna May Ivery, was born five years later via surrogate. Ellen opened up about using a surrogate on Jimmy Kimmel, saying, “I was there with [the] when they inseminated her and we held hands. I looked into the microscope and I saw the embryo. I saw the baby, and they put it in a thingy and they inseminated her. And then we held hands and we prayed.” In December 2016, the couple announced a third addition to their family—son Eli Christopher, born via surrogate.

Tyra Banks and her partner, Erik Asla, welcomed their “miracle” baby boy, York Banks Asla, in January 2016 via surrogate. She posted a photo of a tiny baby hat to announce York’s arrival, and captioned it, “The best present we worked and prayed so hard for is finally here. He’s got my fingers and big eyes and his daddy Erik’s mouth and chin. As we thank the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us, we pray for everyone who struggles to reach this joyous milestone.” Tyra has been very candid about her infertility struggles and how IVF didn’t work for her.

Actress Amy Smart and her husband Carter Oosterhouse struggled with infertility for five years before they welcomed daughter Flora on Boxing Day 2016. The actress has been very public about her gratitude towards her surrogate. She celebrated her daughter turning one month old with the photo above, noting, “One month ago today, Dec. 26th, our amazing beautiful daughter came into this world. Feeling so grateful to have her in my arms…after years of fertility struggles, I give thanks today to our kind, loving surrogate for carrying her.”

Writer extroardinairre Shonda Rhimes is a single mom to three daughters—she welcomed Harper in 2002 and Emerson Pearl in 2012, both through adoption. When she tweeted the arrival of her third daughter, Beckett, in September 2013, many people assumed it was through adoption as well. But in a post on WHOSAY, Shonda revealed she was born via a gestational surroagate. “So this amazing thing happened: I welcomed a new baby into my family. She’s very cute and her sisters love her and when she screams, she sounds like some kind of very important siren, which I think is a good quality in a girl…This time, I had my baby via gestational surrogacy. Yes. You heard me. An incredibly awesome woman gave me the incredibly awesome gift of carrying my baby for me. It was equally as incredible as the experience of adoption. Different, but still just as special and as wonderful as adoption.”

The How I Met Your Mother star and his celebrity chef partner have beautiful boy-girl twins, who were delivered by a surrogate in October 2010. Neil tweeted their arrival: “Gideon Scott and Harper Grace entered the Burtka-Harris fold. All of us are happy, healthy, tired, and a little pukey.” In a sit-down interview with Oprah, the couple spoke about how their kids were conceived—it involved two embryos using an egg donor’s eggs and the sperm from each of them, plus a surrogate (a different woman than the egg donor) who was “the oven.”

Actress Lucy Liu felt she was destined to be a mom and used a gestational carrier to help her achieve her dream. “It just seemed like the right option for me because I was working and I didn’t know when I was going to be able to stop. I decided that was probably the best solution for me, and it turned out to be great,” the actress told People. Baby Rockwell Lloyd Liu was born in August 2015. Little Rocky was the perfect addition to Liu’s now happy family of three—she has a chocolate lab named Apple, who’s apparently Rockwell’s best friend and protector. Too sweet!

In August 2008, Ricky Martin welcomed fraternal twin boys, Matteo and Valentino, via a gestational surrogate. The singer always knew he wanted to be a father, no matter what it took. “Adoption was one option, but it’s complicated and can take a long time,” he said. “Surrogacy was an intriguing and faster option. I thought, ‘I’m going to jump into this with no fear.’ I put my name on the list for one baby and then found out I got two!” Ricky plans on being upfront with his kids about why he chose single parenthood. “I know people say this is a different type of family… Yes, my babies don’t have a mom [present]. But I have a lot of incredible women in my family that will always be there for them,” he noted. “When they come with a question, the answer will be right there with honesty.”

Soccer star Christiano Ronaldo is a dad of three—his son was born in June 2010, and he welcomed boy-girl twins in the summer of 2017. All three of his kids were born via surrogates. Cristiano has made sure to keep the identities of his surrogates private and has sole custody of all three children.

Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish have two sons together—Zachary Jackson Levon, (born in in December 2010) and Elijah Joseph Daniel (born in January 2013). To protect their surrogate’s privacy, the couple haven’t released any details about her, except to sing her praises. “She is a wonderful, kind and loving woman, who we love like a sister,” Elton said. “We have a very close bond with her and were in constant touch throughout the pregnancy, getting updates, seeing scans and sharing all the little details that make those nine months so exciting… She has given us two amazing gifts, and we in turn have a duty of care to her and are fiercely protective of her anonymity.”

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have two daughters together, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret. Nicole and Keith conceived Sunday Rose after multiple miscarriages, but when it came to trying for a second child, they turned to a surrogate. They welcomed Faith Margaret in December 2010, surprising the world when they announced her birth because no one knew they were expecting. “I wanted to be able to tell everybody because I was so excited about her,” Nicole said. “[But] we just decided this was our thing together. It kind of just perpetuated itself. [And] it protects her and it protects everyone in the situation.” Explaining their choice in name, she said, “We needed lots of Faith.”

The E! News host and her husband, Bill Rancic, have been very public about their fertility stuggles. Giuliana underwent IVF procedures in the hopes of carrying her own child, but in 2011 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to stop fertility treatments. Shortly after, they met a surrogate named Delphine, who carried and gave birth to their son, Edward Duke Rancic, in August 2012. The couple had three remaining embryos, and were hopeful for more kids in the future. Sadly, Delphine miscarried all three of the last embryos. “It was painful,” Giuliana told People. “We were so optimistic with this last embryo. We thought, ‘This is definitely going to work. This is our last shot.’”

The hunky Magic Mike actor and his husband Simon Halls have three sons together via surrogate—Kit (born in 2005) and twins Henry and Walker (born in 2008). In 2014. Matt told People that fatherhood is “the most profound gift and the most daunting challenge at times,” but that he loves it. “I just want to be hopefully somebody who helps shape these souls without changing how they came into the world.”

After years of trying to conceive, Elizabeth Banks and her husband, Max Handelman, decided to use a gestational surrogate. “It helps that other moms had said that once they had their babies, they forgot they were ever pregnant,” she told Women’s Health. “So once my focus became the baby and not the pregnancy, it was a very easy decision.” Their older son, Felix, was born in March 2011. His younger brother, Magnus Mitchell, came a year later in November 2012, with Elizabeth announcing his birth on her site. “Like Felix, Magnus was born via gestational surrogate. This experience has exceeded all expectations, taught us a great deal about generosity and gratitude, and established a relationship that will last a lifetime.”

After having their son, James, in 2002, actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick wanted to expand their family. In 2009, the couple announced they were expecting twin girls, Tabitha and Marion, via surrogate. In an interview with Access Hollywood, SJP opened up about their surrogacy process. “We’ve been trying to expand our family for a number of years and we actually have explored a variety of ways of doing so. This was one of the things we discussed with seriousness that had real possibilities for us.” Given the difficulties that she would face when trying to conceive, she and Matthew had decided that a surrogate would be the safest and healthiest route. “I couldn’t pretend [I wasn’t disappointed],” she said.

Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly welcomed twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, via a surrogate in November 2007. “God has definitely blessed us,” he said about their birth. Dennis also has a son from his first marriage to Meg Ryan, Jack, born in April 1992.

Jordana Brewster and her husband struggled to get pregnant and used a surrogate to carry their sons Julian, born in 2013, and Rowan, born in 2016. In an interview with Yahoo, the Fast and Furious actress spoke about the experience. “For me it wasn’t a choice—I needed to use a surrogate. But I didn’t feel judged; it’s more like I felt awkward,” she explained. “Sometimes I feel a little left out when other moms talk about what their birth experience was like, and I feel the loss of not having carried or having been able to carry. But luckily I keep my circle tight and close, so I never feel judged… In many ways, I feel lucky that I was able to be open. There are so many women who are young and have to go through IVF and feel like they can’t talk about it, and that’s really unfortunate.”

The Married With Children star decided to use a surrogate after marrying her second husband, Kurt Sutter. Katey thought she was done having kids, but Kurt wanted to expand their family. Given Katey’s age at the time, it would have been difficult for her to conceive and carry a child, so they explored their options. “At first we explored adoption, but that proved to be way more difficult than I expected,” she said. “We went through the whole in vitro fertilization process and our embryos were not really strong, but we thought, ‘Let’s give it a shot and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.’ And if it wasn’t, we weren’t going to do it,” she said. “But then our little Esme came through. That’s why we call her our little miracle.” Esme Louise was born in January 2007.

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