While starting a family is always a joyous occasion, it's not always straightforward. Whether it be for LGBTQ+ couples or people struggling with fertility issues, sometimes surrogacy is the route forward.
Some of our favourite celebs have welcomed children through surrogacy, including Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, who this week announced the birth of their fourth child, a baby boy named Wren Alexander Stephens, born on 19 June.
Read on to discover other celebs who started their family life with a helping hand...
Chrissy Teigen and John legend
A huge congratulations to Chrissy Teigen and John Legend who have welcomed their fourth baby via surrogate.
Chrissy took to her Instagram page to announce the exciting news in a long post, revealing: "Just minutes before midnight on June 19th, I got to witness the most beautiful woman, my friend, our surrogate, give birth amidst a bit of chaos, but with strength and pure joy and love.
"We want to say thank you for this incredible gift you have given us, Alexandra. And we are so happy to tell the world he is here, with a name forever connected to you, Wren Alexander Stephens. Our hearts, and our home, are officially full. And to our Jack, we know both their angel kisses are from you."
Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black
Tom and Dustin welcomed two children with the help of a surrogate, those being their sons Robbie and Phoenix. Tom shared: "Our family has grown in the last week, we welcomed Phoenix to the world on 28/03/23 and he's just perfect. Robbie is loving being a BIG BRO!"
In 2022, the 28-year-old opened up about opting for surrogacy, explaining on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast: "Lance and I just felt really drawn to [surrogacy because of] the fact that we had lost people, I had lost my dad and he had recently lost his mum and his brother. There was something about surrogacy that we were drawn to that just meant we could pass on the people that we had lost, their genes, their thoughts, their personalities, and being able to bring someone into the world like that felt extremely special."
Elton John
Sir Elton and husband David Furnish welcomed their children through surrogacy, with their son Zach being born on Christmas Day.
Like many celeb couples, the pair have opted to keep the identity of their surrogate a secret, and in 2013 it was reported that the couple had paid their surrogate £20,000 following the birth of their second son.
Rebel Wilson
Rebel confirmed in 2022 that she and Ramona Agruma had welcomed a baby daughter through surrogacy, and while she kept the identity of her surrogate secret, she did thank her.
She sweetly penned: "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 BEST gift!!"
Kim Kardashian
It's not just same-sex couples who welcome children through surrogacy, as reality TV star Kim Kardashian shared that her third and fourth children with ex-husband Kayne West were born with the help of one.
Kim's first two pregnancies were difficult and she ended up developing placenta accreta, a condition where the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall and causes significant blood loss following birth.
Opening up about the decision to have a surrogate, the mother-of-four explained: "We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give."
During one episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashian she even gave her sister Khloe some advice on the matter, sharing: "You know what giving birth feels like. I always say if you can do it, it's such an amazing experience, but you’ll see that the love you’ll have for your kids is exactly the same. There's no difference except there was someone else that was the carrier."
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
Although the power couple have not gone public about why they opted for the surrogacy route for their second daughter, the pair welcomed Faith back in 2011 with the help of one. Confirming Faith's birth back in 2011, Nicole thanked her "gestational carrier" adding: "Our family is truly blessed and just so thankful to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret."
Paris Hilton
It wasn't just Khloe that Kim gave advice to on surrogacy, but also fellow IT girl, Paris Hilton. The star and her husband Carter Reum welcomed a son through surrogacy last year.
In an open interview with Glamour, Paris revealed that previous experiences in her life had left her feeling "scared" when it comes to medical procedures around childbirth, and it was further encumbered during her time on The Simple Life when she shared a room with a woman giving birth.
She explained: "But I want a family so bad, 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."
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