There are many ways to welcome children in 2024, including through IVF, surrogacy and adoption.
Surrogacy refers to an arrangement where a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child on behalf of others.
There are two types of surrogacy:
1. Gestational surrogacy, when the surrogate has a fertilised embryo transferred into her and therefore has no genetic contribution to the child they're carrying. This is the most common type of surrogacy in Australia.
2. Traditional surrogacy, when the surrogate provides the egg, therefore contributing genetics.
Here are 17 celebrity parents who welcomed children via surrogacy.
Paris Hilton
In January 2023, the reality star and socialite welcomed her first child with her husband Carter Reum. The pair, who married in 2021, had their son — Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum — via a surrogate and explained it had been a "dream" to have a child together.
"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. "We are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our baby boy."
Later, in February, she shared why she went down the surrogacy route and admitted she had been "traumatised" by a birth scene she'd been forced to witness in The Simple Life two decades prior.
"When I was in The Simple Life, I had to be in a room when a woman was giving birth and that traumatised me," she told Glamour UK and added that even if she had been 20 years old, she would still have chosen surrogacy to have a baby.
"I want a family so bad," she went on to explain. "It’s just the physical part of doing it. I’m just so scared… childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world."
The 42-year-old said that experiencing abuse as a teenager at Provo Canyon in Utah made her hesitant to seek medical care that she'd have needed during pregnancy and childbirth.
"I’m just so scared," she said. "Leading back to Provo of even being in a doctor’s office, just all of that, the shots, the IVs that they put in."
The reality star shared it was actually Kim Kardashian who helped her through the process of having a child.
"I went and did the one round of IVF, because Kim had told me about it. So I had eggs frozen," she said.
"Kim told me about (surrogacy) as well," Hilton said. "I’m using the same doctor, Dr Huang, who’s the best and he has a concierge team that deals with everything and interviews the (surrogate) to make sure that they’re healthy."
Hilton and Reum welcomed her daughter, London Marilyn Hilton Reum, in November 2023 — just 10 months after Phoenix's arrival.
Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson
In July 2022, reality star Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson welcomed their second child together via surrogacy. They share a daughter together named True, who is six years old.
While the Kardashian's big sister Kim has been open and honest about her own surrogacy journeys, the celebrity admitted to struggling with not being able to control the situation.
"If it wasn't for Kimberly, I definitely don't think I would have been as comfortable," she told The Kelly Clarkson Show. "I wouldn't have been aware, I wouldn't have known as much."
While she says she is able to praise her sister for "how open she's always been about her journey", Kardashian said that her journey has been "very different."
"I think her journey was way more ... it was just more comfortable for her," the mom of two said. "I'm such a control freak."
"You're a stranger, I just have to trust you," she continued. "I love my surrogate, she was amazing. But I'm still like, 'I need you sitting next to me all the time. What are you doing? What are you eating?'"
Rebel Wilson
In November 2022, Australian actor Rebel Wilson announced the start of her own family thanks to the arrival of her newborn daughter, Royce Lillian.
Taking to Instagram, Wilson shared her daughter was born via surrogate.
"Beyond proud to announce the birth of my first child, Royce Lillian, born this past week via surrogate I can’t even describe the love I have for her, she’s a beautiful miracle!" Wilson, who is in a relationship with fashion designer Ramona Agruma, wrote.
"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."
The Hustle actor has been open in the past about her complications with fertility due to having polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
In 2020, while she named it her "year of health", she said what kick-started her lifestyle change was wanting to have a baby.
In an interview with People in May 2022, the Senior Year star said she visited a fertility specialist who "looked me up and down and said, 'You’d do much better if you were healthier'."
On the comment, Wilson said that it was "a future child’s needs that really inspired me to get healthier."
The actor also revealed earlier this year that she was happy to pursue having a baby on her own.
"If I meet the right person, great, and then they can fit in with whatever happens. It’s great that the technology exists… You have so many options with surrogacy and sperm donors," she said.
"I only started thinking of fertility when I was 39 so you feel quite late but then there are women in their mid-40s who’ve been successful."
Grimes and Elon Musk
Musician Grimes has opened up about the birth of her second child, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, in an interview with Vanity Fair.
The musician shared that after a "scary" pregnancy with their first child, the couple feared serious complications. So, they welcomed their second child, a daughter, secretly via surrogate in December 2021.
"He [son, X AE A-XII] was pressing on my nerves, so I kept collapsing," she said of her first pregnancy.
"I took a few steps and collapsed. It was kind of scary, because you don’t want to fall a lot when you’re eight months pregnant. So I would just crawl to the bathroom and crawl back or whatever."
She added that she nearly died with haemorrhaging, so the decision to use a surrogate was simple.
That, combined with the timing of the pandemic, meant the couple were able to keep their pregnancy a secret until well after their daughter was born.
The on-off former couple also have a second son together, one-year-old Tau.
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas
In November 2022, Nick Jonas announced that he and his wife Priyanka Chopra secretly welcomed their first child together via surrogate.
"We are overjoyed," the singer, 29, shared on Instagram.
"We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family. Thank you so much."
Following the announcement, a source close couple told the Daily Mail that their child (which has since been announced to be a baby girl) arrived prematurely.
"The baby had been due in April, but the surrogate ended up giving birth on Sunday (January 16), so she was very premature," the source told the publication.
"Priyanka had been trying to get her filming all done before the baby was due in April - but obviously this has completely thrown her plans," they said.
The source also noted that Jonas and Chopra decided to welcome their child via surrogate a while back.
They explained that Priyanka "doesn't have any fertility issues preventing her having a baby, but she is 39 now so it's not getting any easier.
"Their busy work schedules also mean that it's difficult for them to physically be together to conceive when she is ovulating, so some time ago they went down the surrogacy route."
Amber Heard
In July 2021, Amber Heard announced the arrival of her first child, Oonagh Paige.
The 35-year-old actress shared the news on social media, explaining that she'd wanted children for quite some time.
"I’m so excited to share this news with you," she wrote. "Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms."
"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. I hope we arrive at a point in which it’s normalised to not want a ring in order to have a crib.
"A part of me wants to uphold that my private life is none of anyone’s business. I also get that the nature of my job compels me to take control of this."
Oonagh was born via surrogate. As a close friend explained, that was because Heard was told she couldn't carry children.
"Oonagh is absolutely gorgeous, and Amber is besotted," the friend told Page Six. "She always knew that she wanted to be a mum, and this is her greatest wish come true. She’s so grateful to the wonderful woman who helped bring Oonagh into her life."
"The most important thing for Amber is that she’s open about Oonagh’s birth," they continued.
"There are so many women who feel they can’t talk about their fertility and are worried and embarrassed; Amber wants them to feel supported and realise that there are a multitude of ways to have a baby even if you have fertility issues."
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
After two complicated pregnancies, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West welcomed their two youngest children, Chicago and Psalm, via surrogate.
"When I was pregnant with my daughter North, I had a condition called preeclampsia or toxemia, which is basically when the mum’s organs start to shut down," Kardashian said in a 2019 video for her shapewear line, Skims.
After an emergency labour at 34-and-a-half weeks, Kardashian experienced placenta accreta — a life-threatening condition where the placenta grows inside the uterus. While she was able to freeze her eggs and fall pregnant with Saint, the same situation happened the second time around, and doctors wouldn't allow her to go through pregnancy again.
"They were like, 'We won’t even put an embryo in you — that would be like malpractice'," she said during the video.
While she found the experience of going through surrogacy "harder", it was the best decision for her family.
"You know, it is really different," Kardashian told ET in 2017. "Anyone that says or thinks it is just the easy way out is just completely wrong. I think it is so much harder to go through it this way, because you are not really in control.
"And, you know, obviously you pick someone that you completely trust and that you have a good bond and relationship with, but it is still ... knowing that I was able to carry my first two babies and not, you know, my baby now, it's hard for me. So, it's definitely a harder experience than I anticipated."
Chicago was born in 2018 and Psalm in 2019.
Sally Obermeder
In 2011, the day before Channel 7 TV presenter Sally Obermeder gave birth to her first daughter, Annabelle, she was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer. While she was given the all-clear after an eight-month battle and 16 rounds of chemotherapy, Obermeder was also told it would be difficult for her to carry a pregnancy in the future.
"I wanted Annabelle to having a sibling. It was so strong," she told Mia Freedman on Mamamia's No Filter podcast.
As compensated surrogacy (that is, an arrangement in which the surrogate benefits financially) was and is still illegal in Australia, the family struggled to find a willing candidate locally. They ultimately went to the US, where they met their surrogate, Rachel.
The mum-of-three carried Obermeder's second daughter, Elyssa Rose.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick
In 2009, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick welcomed twins via surrogate.
After the And Just Like That... star gave birth to their first son, James Wilkie, in 2002, aged 37, the couple looked into various ways to welcome another child. "We tried and tried and tried and tried to get pregnant," she told US Vogue. "It just was not to be, I would give birth if I could."
So she and Broderick chose a surrogate, Michelle Ross, 26, who gave birth to twin girls, Tabitha and Marion, in June 2009.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's second daughter, Faith, was born via surrogate in 2011.
"Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret," the couple said in a joint statement, according to Reuters.
"No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier."
Lucy Liu
Actress Lucy Liu told People using a surrogate was the "best solution".
"[Surrogacy] 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," Liu told the publication. "I decided that was probably the best solution for me, and it turned out to be great."
She welcomed her son Rockwell in 2015.
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka, welcomed their twin babies, Gideon and Harper, in 2010, with the help of a surrogate.
Speaking to Wendy Williams, Burtka shared how it was a lot harder for them.
“It’s a lot harder for gay guys [to have kids], although we tried!” Burtka joked to Williams.
He explained: "[there were] two different women involved. There was an egg donor, a wonderful woman who was anonymous. We took two of our best guys and implanted them into her eggs, two different eggs."
Therefore, neither of them knows which twin is biologically theirs.
Tyra Banks
Model-turned-television-presenter Tyra Banks and her ex-boyfriend Erik Alsa's "miracle baby", York, arrived via surrogate in 2016.
"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," Banks wrote on Instagram.
"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. York Banks Asla, welcome to the world."
She never shares photos of him publicly.
Elizabeth Banks
Actor/director/producer Elizabeth Banks has spoken candidly about not being able to fall pregnant and using surrogates for both of her sons, Felix and Magnus.
"The one true hurdle I've faced in life is that I have a broken belly. After years of trying to get pregnant, exploring the range of fertility treatments, all unsuccessful, our journey led us to gestational surrogacy. From that came two miracles. The first was meeting our carrier and her husband who were truly humbling in their decency and generosity. And the second miracle was the birth of our baby boy, Felix Handelman," the Pitch Perfect producer and star wrote on her blog.
"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," she said.
Banks and her husband, Max Handelman, are another celebrity couple who never share photos of their children.
Ellen Pompeo
Grey's Anatomy actress Ellen Pompeo and her husband, Chris Ivery, have three children: Stella, Sienna and Eli. While Pompeo carried their first daughter, surrogates carried the second two.
"This is an incredible thing to do with your life, to give the gift of carrying someone's child," she told Jimmy Kimmel in 2014. "I am forever grateful and feel very blessed and grateful to her - she who will remain anonymous."
"I was there with her when they inseminated her, and we held hands. I looked into the microscope and I saw the embryo."
Jimmy Fallon and Nancy Juvonen
Jimmy Fallon and his producer wife, Nancy Juvonen, quietly welcomed two daughters via surrogate.
"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, after the birth of his daughter, Winnie, in 2013.
"We said, 'We're not going to tell anybody.' It'd be just more fun if it's just private between me and my wife. And then we get to introduce her to everybody."
They did the same thing for baby number two, Frances, in 2014.
Gabrielle Union
In 2018, Gabrielle Union and her husband, ex-basketballer Dwyane Wade, welcomed their daughter, Kaavia, via surrogate.
Announcing the exciting news on Twitter, Wade wrote, "We are sleepless and delirious but so excited to share that, our miracle baby, arrived last night via surrogate and 11/7 will forever be etched in our hearts as the most loveliest [sic] of all the lovely days.
"Welcome to the party sweet girl."
This post was originally published on July 3, 2021, and has since been updated with new information.
Feature Image: Getty.
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