19 Celebrities Who Have Had Children Through Surrogacy
Gestational surrogacy, a process in which a woman carries and gives birth to a couple's biological child, may be an option for many seeking to start a family. Having kids through a surrogate can be explored by various groups, such as same-sex couples or people who have a history of infertility. This journey is an expensive and emotional one, but rewarding in the end. Here are 19 celeb parents who you might not have known welcomed children through surrogacy.
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1.Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade
Gabrielle and Dwyane welcomed a daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade, via surrogate in 2018. In 2021, Time published an excerpt from Gabrielle's book, You Got Anything Stronger?, in which the actor detailed her fertility struggles and path to have Kaavia. Gabrielle revisited the day her daughter was born, then stated that she still wonders how it might have been different to have carried Kaavia.
"So much time has passed. So many firsts. Yet the question lingers in my mind: I will always wonder if Kaav would love me more if I had carried her. Would our bond be even tighter?" Gabrielle wrote. "I will never know what it would have been like to carry this rockstar inside me. When they say having a child is like having your heart outside your body, that’s all I know. We met as strangers, the sound of my voice and my heartbeat foreign to her. It’s a pain that has dimmed but remains present in my fears that I was not, and never will be, enough."
The Cheaper by the Dozen star also said that through this experience, she has "learned that you can be honest and loving at the same time."
2.Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick
Sarah Jessica and Matthew welcomed their twin daughters, Tabitha and Marion, via surrogate in 2009. Sarah Jessica previously gave birth to Matthew's and her eldest child, James, in 2002. The Sex and the City star told Vogue in 2010 that she had “tried and tried and tried and tried and tried to get pregnant, but it just was not to be, the conventional way."
She also described what it was like being introduced to her daughters after their surrogate had given birth to them.
“Meeting your children rather than giving birth to them, it's as if, um, it's —suspended animation. The gestational experience is gone," Sarah Jessica said. "It's as if everything else disappears for a moment, and the world goes silent and— I can't explain it except to say that nothing else existed. ... I am very poor at describing it. But it's amazing.”
3.Michael Turchin and Lance Bass
Lance announced the birth of Michael's and his children, twins Violet and Alexander, in October 2021.
"The baby dragons have arrived!!" Lance wrote on Instagram. "I can not express how much love I feel right now. Thank you for all the kind wishes. It meant a lot. Now, how do you change a diaper??! Ahhhhhhhh!"
Earlier that year, the couple revealed they were expecting the twins following numerous years of trying to have children through surrogacy. Lance discussed their shared desire to be outspoken about starting a family.
"We knew that we wanted to be very open and transparent with our experience because we wanted gay couples to be able to relate to us and say, 'Oh my gosh, we're going through that too.' Or like, 'Oh, now, that's hopefully what we can do,'" Lance told People magazine. "And give them a kind of a blueprint of how to do it. If you want to start that family, start that family. It's going to be incredible."
4.Tyra Banks and Erik Asla
Tyra welcomed her son, York, in 2016 via surrogacy with her now–ex-partner Erik. The supermodel and business mogul opened up to People magazine in 2018 about the process of having York after battling fertility issues.
“There are so many stages,” Tyra said of surrogacy. “It’s like, ‘Okay, it’s a healthy embryo. Okay, it’s month one.’ I was just constantly living on edge until I held him for the first time.
"Everything that happened all got me to this,” Tyra added. “It was meant to be.”
5.Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas
In January 2022, Priyanka and Nick announced via Instagram that they'd had a baby through surrogacy.
"We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate. We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family," the couple wrote.
They then stated in May 2022 that their baby, Malti Marie, was home after having spent over 100 days receiving treatment in intensive care. Nick spoke about Priyanka's and his experiences with raising Malti later that month.
“Life is beautiful,” Nick told Today. “She’s a gift and we’re just so blessed that she’s back.”
6.Lucy Liu
Lucy had a son, Rockwell Lloyd, in 2015 through gestational surrogacy. The actor and director told People magazine in 2016 that she "cried when he came out" and revealed she chose to use a surrogate because of her busy work schedule.
“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,” Lucy said. “I decided that was probably the best solution for me, and it turned out to be great.”
7.Tristan Thompson and Khloé Kardashian
On July 13, it was announced that Khloé and Tristan are expecting their second child together. The baby was conceived via surrogacy a month before Tristan's paternity scandal became public. This baby will join True, the ex-couple's first child.
"We can confirm True will have a sibling who was conceived in November," a representative for Khloé said to People magazine.
"Khloé is incredibly grateful to the extraordinary surrogate for such a beautiful blessing. We'd like to ask for kindness and privacy so that Khloe can focus on her family," they added.
8.Benji Madden and Cameron Diaz
Benji and Cameron announced in 2020 that they'd welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Raddix. At the time, a source opened up to Us Weekly about Raddix’s birth and said she was born using a surrogate. This came after the couple had reportedly been attempting to have children for years and had tested methods like acupuncture and IVF to become pregnant.
“They went through so much to get to this point,” the source said. “Cameron feels like this baby is truly a miracle.”
9.Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance
Angela and Courtney welcomed twins Slater and Bronwyn via surrogate in 2006. The couple had struggled to get pregnant for years and decided to explore this option when a friend of Angela's mentioned that she was having a child through surrogacy.
"She began to tell me about the idea of surrogacy. The more we learned about it, the more we began to think that perhaps this was an answer for us," Angela said on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007, according to People magazine.
She went on to describe her joy in meeting her two children for the first time.
"Just standing there together, holding each other, with the realization that this is the moment that we’ve been working toward, praying for … [it’s a dream come true]," Angela said.
10.Grimes and Elon Musk
Grimes told Vanity Fair in 2022 that she and Elon opted to have their second child, Exa Dark Sideræl, via surrogacy after she went through a difficult pregnancy with their first baby, X Æ A-12.
"He was pressing on my nerves, so I kept collapsing," Grimes said of her pregnancy with X. "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."
In addition, Grimes said that she was at one point fearful she could be dying, explaining, “Like, I hemorrhaged. It was scary.”
The musician also said her relationship with Elon is "the best it’s ever been" and they have "always wanted at least three or four [children]."
11.Andy Cohen
The Watch What Happens Live host announced on Instagram in April 2022 that a surrogate had given birth to his second child, a daughter named Lucy Eve. His first child, a son named Benjamin Allen, was born in 2019, also via surrogate.
"Thank you to my rock star surrogate (ALL surrogates are rockstars, by the way) and everyone who helped make this miracle happen," Andy wrote following Lucy's birth. "I’m so happy."
12.Jimmy Fallon and Nancy Juvonen
In 2013, Jimmy told Today anchor Savannah Guthrie about how he and his wife, Nancy, had attempted to start a family for years before deciding to have kids through surrogacy. This led to the couple welcoming two daughters, Winnie and Franny, who were born in 2013 and 2014.
"We tried for a long time, for five years. I know people have tried much longer, but if there's anyone out there who is trying and they're just losing hope ... just hang in there," Jimmy said to Savannah after Winnie's birth, Us Weekly reported. "Try every avenue; try anything you can do, 'cause you'll get there. You'll end up with a family, and it's so worth it. It is the most 'worth it' thing. I'm just so happy right now. I'm freaking out."
13.Kristen Wiig and Avi Rothman
Kristen faced fertility problems before turning to surrogacy for the 2020 birth of her twins, Luna and Shiloh, with her husband, Avi. The process was a "bittersweet" one for the Saturday Night Love alum, she stated in 2020.
"So many things were bittersweet," Kristen said to InStyle. "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."
She also called the experience "overall ... a very beautiful thing" and added that she now "wouldn’t have had it any other way."
14.Tan France and Rob France
Tan and his husband, Rob, welcomed a son named Ismail via surrogate in July 2021. Ismail was born prematurely and had a three-week stay in an intensive care unit but had been brought home by early August.
"[Ismail] came seven weeks early, so he’s been in the NICU for the past three weeks," Tan wrote in an Instagram post alongside photos of himself, Rob, and Ismail. "But, today, we finally got to bring him home. We love him so, so much. Like, fully obsessed."
Tan added that their surrogate was "doing so great, post-labor," and both he and Rob "couldn’t be more grateful for the greatest gift in [their] lives."
15.Bryan Greenberg and Jamie Chung
In June 2022, Jamie opened up about having twins with Bryan via a surrogate last year, saying she was concerned that getting pregnant would be damaging to her career.
"I was terrified of putting my life on hold for two-plus years," Jamie said in a Today interview. "In my industry, it feels like you’re easily forgotten if you don’t work within the next month of your last job. Things are so quickly paced in what we do."
The actor addressed the "complicated" nature of starting a family and further explained that she didn't want to pause her work as a result of becoming pregnant.
“People probably think, Oh, she's so vain. She didn't want to get pregnant, and it's much more complicated than that," Jamie added. "For me, personally, and I will leave it at this, it’s like, I worked my ass off my entire life to get where I am. I don’t want to lose opportunities. I don’t want to be resentful.”
16.Becca Tobin and Zach Martin
The Glee actor celebrated the birth of Zach's and her son, Ford, with an Instagram post in February 2022. Becca also revealed that Ford was born via surrogate after five years of the couple trying to conceive, which included her suffering two miscarriages and undergoing IVF treatment.
"Welcome to the world, Ford," Becca wrote. "Rutherford 'Ford' Thomas Martin is here and life is already so much sweeter. It took him five years to get here, but it's been worth every minute. Thank you to our amazing surrogate for bringing him here safely surrounded by so much love."
17.Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
Nicole adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, while married to Tom Cruise, and later gave birth to a daughter, Sunday, with Keith. After experiencing fertility problems, Nicole and Keith opted to conceive another daughter, Faith, through a surrogate.
“Anyone that’s been in the place of wanting another child or wanting a child knows the disappointment, the pain, and the loss that you go through trying and struggling with fertility,” Nicole said on 60 Minutes Australia in 2011, according to Marie Claire. “Fertility is such a big thing, and it’s not something I’ve ever run away from talking about.”
The Sydney Morning Herald published a statement from the couple that expressed their appreciation toward those who encouraged them along this journey, including the surrogate who carried Faith.
“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," they said.
18.Andrew Form and Jordana Brewster
Ex-spouses Andrew and Jordana have two sons, Julian and Rowan, who were both born through a gestational surrogate. In 2021, Jordana revealed to Today Parents that she first "felt ashamed" when she wasn't able to conceive after undergoing IVF treatments. She also noticed a tendency to be vocal in justifying her decision to have children via surrogacy.
“I’d make this big deal out of announcing that I couldn’t carry, so that's why Julian was born to a gestational surrogate,” Jordana said. “No one ever asked for the information. I would just offer it."
Over time, however, the actor was able to release the stigma associated with surrogacy and appreciate the "beautiful life" she's made.
"I let go of the baggage. I let go of the noise in my head," Jordana said. "I've done so much work to create this beautiful life, and I'm going to enjoy it."
19.Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman
Elizabeth and her husband, Max, had their two sons, Felix and Magnus, via surrogate. The Hunger Games star explained in 2019 that she's felt "judged" for making this decision, but she is thankful that sharing her story can support others who may be going through similar circumstances.
"Women’s reproductive issues were things you would whisper about in small circles,” Elizabeth said to Porter magazine. "[Now] there’s #ShoutYourAbortion and IVF Facebook groups. I definitely think I’m still judged for what I’ve done and that people don’t understand my choices, but I don’t feel I owe anybody any explanation. And if my story helps people feel less alone on their journey, then I’m grateful for that.”
