Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is navigating life after hearing her son, Ever James Houghton, uttered his first word. The celebrity mom was surprised to hear “Dada” and not “Mama” flow from her son’s lips.
“It’s official,” Adrienne’s husband, Israel Houghton, exclaimed in a social media post on Wednesday (Feb. 22). “‘Dada’ are his first words,” the recording artist shared. “Please keep @adriennebailon in your prayers during this difficult time for her,” Israel joked. “As @everjames and I continue to be the majority in our household. …Amen,” the doting father further mused.
Ever James made Adrienne Bailon-Houghton a mom for the first time last year. The little one arrived via surrogacy after his parents struggled with fertility issues for years.
“It took me six years to have my son,” Adrienne shared during an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “And I think for such a long time, it was a quiet journey that I had just with myself because it was really hard,” she added. “I didn’t expect it to be so hard for me to have a child.”
Challenges did not keep Adrienne and Israel from pursuing their dream of family expansion. The couple took to Instagram to celebrate his birth days after Ever James arrived by way of surrogate last August.
“Our baby boy is here and we are so in love,” Adrienne told her social media fans. “If you have followed our love story, you know that our journey to baby has been very challenging,” the television personality said.
“We have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last nine months,” Adrienne revealed in her announcement. “He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage,” the celebrity mom said of her son.
“All we feel is joy and overwhelming love and gratitude,” Bailon-Houghton shared. “Grateful to God, to our angel surrogate and to all of our friends and family who have stood with us for over five years on this journey. He’s here and we have never been happier to lose sleep!”
Ever James is Adrienne Bailon-Houghton’s first child and Israel Houghton’s fifth child. He turns one year old on August 16, 2023.
Photo: Adrienne Bailon-Houghton
