Adrienne Bailon Talks Dreams of Baby No. 2 After Surrogacy Journey

The Real host Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is getting real about her fertility journey and her hopes for baby no. 2.

The Cheetah Girls star sat down with Jennifer Hudson on The Jennifer Hudson Show yesterday to talk motherhood and why she’s holding out on the dream of carrying her second child.

“I still do have a dream of maternity photos and what that feels like,” Bailon shared. “I want to experience that. I haven’t given up hope. I say I’m either like literally the most delusional person or the most hopeful human being. I’m going to lean on hopeful.”

Bailon has been open about her fertility journey and how she went through eight IVF fertility treatment cycles over the course of six years. “I had my last embryo,” she told Hudson. “They were like, 'you can either put it your body’—which I had done before, and I had miscarried multiple times—or ‘would you consider surrogacy?’”

Bailon admitted that she was initially shocked that she might not be able to carry her baby. “It just wasn’t what I imagined would be my journey. I think that’s one of the things that hurts us the most in life, is the idea of how it’s supposed to be,” Bailon shared.

But after considering her options, the Daytime Emmy Award Winner opened herself up to the idea of surrogacy and happily welcomed her son Ever James into the world on August 16–helping out with the delivery herself! Although the journey wasn’t what she imagined, the TV personality says that she “wouldn’t change a thing about it.”

“If you have followed our love story, you know that our journey to baby has been very challenging. But God is true to his word and his promises…He [Ever James] is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage. Everything,” Bailon wrote in a post celebrating the birth of her newborn.

The glowing mom says she loves spending time with her 3 ½ month-old son, listening to him coo and talk, and jokes that she’s turned into that mom who goes on and on about “how advanced he is.” Plus, the star boasts that she “had to get a whole other phone” just to take more pictures of his adorable face!

Bailon’s story is yet another wonderful way to shine a light on the 7.4 million US women who have used fertility clinics or treatments. Check out this list of 18 celebrities who have struggled with infertility and take comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone on this journey.