Adrienne Bailon-Houghton has been candid about her challenging path to motherhood. She and her husband, Israel Houghton, welcomed their son, Ever James, through a surrogate after years of struggling with infertility.
“I only did eight cycles of IVF, but that doesn’t include the amount of IUIs I did and every other kind of imaginable treatments that you could imagine for fertility,” Bailon-Houghton shared with PEOPLE. “So it was a pretty tough six years of trying to have my son.”
Her journey was not only emotionally taxing but also financially burdensome. Bailon-Houghton estimated that she spent “easily over a million” on her fertility treatments, acknowledging that this is far from realistic for most people.
“I think so many people are very insensitive to that, in the sense [that] I know you guys are like, ‘Is she pregnant?’ ‘Her face is fuller’— FYI I’ve always had a really chubby face so that’s not what it is,” Bailon-Houghton said in 2018, highlighting the pressure and scrutiny women face regarding their fertility.
She expressed that as a society, we should have more discretion when inquiring about someone else’s pregnancy.
“I think that as an audience we should be sensitive to the fact that everybody doesn’t get pregnant right away,” Bailon-Houghton continued. “I think for myself I thought it would happen so easily for me and it just hasn’t happened that way.”
Adrienne Bailon’s Birth
Despite the challenges, Bailon-Houghton maintained her faith and belief in God’s timing. When she announced her son’s arrival in 2022, she expressed overwhelming joy and gratitude, noting that every setback and disappointment was worth it.
“Our baby boy is here & we are so in love! 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,” she shared.
Bailon-Houghton’s story serves as a reminder of the resilience and strength required on the journey to parenthood, offering hope and inspiration to others facing similar struggles.