Top Celebrity Parent Newsmakers of the Year

It's that time of year again. Maclean's Magazine has revealed its coveted list of the top newsmakers of 2012 — "champions and chumps, debutantes and dilettantes," who made headlines in 2012. In its honour, we've created our own coveted list of this year's top celebrity parent headline-makers.

Without further ado, we give you the top Celebrity Parent Newsmakers of 2012!

It was the biggest, most highly anticipated pregnancy announcement of the year! So, Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, top our list of 2012 newsmakers. Kate has also brought awareness to Hyperemesis Gravidarum, which is not a Harry Potter incantation, as many people thought, but a very serious, extreme form of morning sickness. She was recently released from the King Edward VII Hospital, where she was being treated for the condition.

Now the U.S. has tried to top this pregnancy announcement with that of former First Daughter, Jenna Bush! Not quite the same, but exciting for the former First Family, of course!

Find out who else is pregnant in Hollywood>

Was she pregnant? Wasn't she? Either way, who cares, Beyonce and Jay-Z rang in the new year by welcoming the most famous baby in the world — Blue Ivy Carter. Unfortunately, they took up an entire hospital wing to do it, at the expense of NICU parents, making this one of the most scandalous births of the year.

Now nearly a year old, baby Blue's been making headlines with her *bling.* And, of course, Mom was crowned World's Most Beautiful Woman in the World, 2012. Total newsmakers!

Find out which other Hollywood babies are blinged to the max>

Queen of the bump watch! Reese Witherspoon's bump was watched relentlessly this year. And it's the star's own fault (heh!) for wearing the most fabulous maternity clothes ever — so fabulous that we devoted a whole gallery to her looks.

Reese welcomed her third child, adorable Tenessee James Toth, in September after several hospital scares and rumours of bedrest, which all made headlines.

Whether it's funny or not, people are still cracking jokes about Alicia Silverstone's famous home video, entitled "Bear Eating My Mouth," in which she feeds her toddler, Bear Blu, from her mouth. While the video evoked a collective "ick" among the mainstream, mouth feeding (or "premastication," as it's officially called) has in fact been practised in many cultures throughout the world. Indeed, some of our own Facebook followers said they've practised it, too.

The Beckham family has been a hot topic throughout the year. We've fallen in love their beautiful baby girl, Harper, and her wee designer clothes. And of course, David and Victoria both took part in the London Olympics: David carried the torch; Victoria performed in the highly anticipated Spice Girls reunion and walked among London's fashion greats in the Closing Ceremonies.

Moreover, David and the LA Galaxy soccer team just won the Major League Soccer Cup! With the season over, David and the family are seriously contemplating moving back to the UK.

Check out all the celebs who have four or more kids>

The world's most beloved True Blood couple, Anna Pacquin and Stephen Moyer, made headlines throughout the year: first, because they were expecting, and second, because they were expecting True Blood twins!

Now, they've welcomed their babies, and have opted not to share any information about them. We have yet to learn the names and sexes of the babies.

Check out all the celeb parents of twins>

The world's most famous celebrity adoption was no doubt Charlize Theron's adoption of baby Jackson back in March. The Academy-award winning actress surprised us with the news and was vocal about her long-held desire to adopt a child — no partner required. Indeed, Charlize has lots of support from her mom, Gerda Theron.

See who else is a single parent in Hollywood (and what they have to say about it)>

Tori Spelling not only made headlines when she announced her fourth pregnancy just five months after giving birth to her daughter Hattie, but also when she was rushed to the hospital due to C-section complications shortly after the birth of her fourth child, Finn. Tori later revealed that she'd had a serious case of placenta previa and almost died.

Will it be another girl for Hollywood's most beloved couple? NO! It's a boy!

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck welcomed their third adorable child this year: a bouncing baby boy who's the spitting image of his handsome father (but with Jen's beautiful colouring).

Ben's also been in the news tons with the success of his latest film, Argo.

See which other celebrity kids are the spitting image of their famous parents>

It was the never-ending pregnancy. That makes Jessica Simpson one of our top newsmakers because, as we know from Celebrity Candy, when a star is pregnant, she makes headlines. And Jessica was pregnant for a long time.

She made headlines with her multi-million-dollar deal with Weight Watchers (after she made headlines for gaining a lot of weight during pregnancy), the curious name she chose for her baby, and of course, the baby-in-a-bikini scandal.

NOW, she's making headlines with rumours that she's pregnant again (à la Tori Spelling) — baby Maxwell is only seven months old.

See which other recent celebrity baby names surprised us>

Her engagement and marriage to Will Coppelman (remember that maternity wedding dress you all loved...not so much?), and the birth of their daughter, Olive, catapulted Drew Barrymore into the spotlight this year.

Kourtney Kardashian's pregnancy and the birth of her second child, Penelope, made her a hot topic this year. But the world went berserk when she shared her birth video on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Though it was totally awesome, the mainstream just wasn't ready for the graphic display of Kourtney pulling her baby out with her own two hands, or for the presence of Kourtney's brother, Rob, stepdad Bruce Jenner, and Kanye West in the room.

Scandalous? Find out which other celebrity parents caused a stir this year>

Snooki, Snooki, Snooki. Whenever we talked about her at Celebrity Candy, we could hear your collective *groan* through the screen. But Snooki was making headlines. People were fascinated (and alarmed!) by the notorious reality-TV party girl's pregnancy. Would she change her ways? Could she possibly mother another human being? Well, it seems she's showing us all. The latest installation of Jersey Shore portrays a healthier, more responsible Snooki.

Snooki and her fiancé, Gianni, welcomed their son, Lorenzo, in August.

It was the "ewwww" heard around the world. Who can forget back in March when January Jones announced that she bounced back so quickly after pregnancy because she was ingesting her own placenta? Now, we all know there's nothing gross about this practice. The placenta is encapsulated into a vitamin — no big deal. Indeed, some our very own Facebook followers were having their placentas prepared by their doulas at the time. But again, as in Alicia Silverstone's and Kourtney Kardashian's cases, the mainstream wasn't quite ready for it this year, and so, alas, the elusive actress wears the scarlet letter P on her chest. For Placenta, of course.

As much as we don't want to think too long about this one, we'd be remiss if we didn't include Heidi and Seal. The most affectionate couple on the planet made headlines when they announced their shocking split back in January. Not long after the separation, Heidi began dating her longtime bodyguard (left), much to Seal's quite public distaste.