Article By Rose Harris // Oh Baby! // EEW Magazine

It’s official. After five years of a harrowing fertility journey, Adrienne Bailon Houghton is officially a new mommy, and she’s giving God all the praise.

“God is true to His word and promises,” wrote the former co-host of The Real, 38, in an emotional Instagram post Tuesday announcing that she and her husband, Israel Houghton, 47, welcomed a son via surrogate.

His name is Ever James.

Alongside a black and white photograph of mom, dad, and baby, she wrote a touching tribute. “For this child we have prayed. Just to hear our baby cry. Skin to skin and face to face. Heart to heart and eye to eye.”

The former Cheetah Girls star, who wed the Grammy-winning gospel singer in Paris in December 2019, said they are “so in love” with Baby Ever.

Bailon Houghton, who admitted in the post that the pair’s “journey to baby has been very challenging,” is now focusing on the faithfulness and favor of the Lord as the Houghtons share their joy with the world.

“We have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months," she shared.

Baby Ever’s precious face is not visible in the photograph, but he has a head full of beautiful hair and two parents that clearly adore him.

"He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage. Everything,” said Bailon Houghton. “All we feel is joy and overwhelming love & gratitude. Grateful to God, to our angel surrogate and to all of our friends and family who have stood with us for over 5 years on this journey.”

Though Baby Ever is the first for the new mom, the proud papa has four children from a previous relationship: daughters Mariah and Milan and sons Jordan and Israel. That means the newest addition will get plenty of cuddles from his older siblings.

Bailon Houghton has shared on numerous occasions that she deeply longed for a child and would never give up trying.

Finally, her heart’s desire has been realized.

The first-time mother previously said on The Real, "It’ll happen when it's God's timing,” adding, “But it can be really discouraging, and it can be really frustrating."

Now, that frustration and discouragement is behind her.

“He's here,” she celebrated, “and we have never been happier to lose sleep!”