We are family: Stars who have used surrogates

After overcoming breast cancer, Sally Obermeder was told that having a baby could mark the return of the disease she fought so hard to beat. But the TV personality has just announced she’s expecting her second child with her husband Marcus via surrogacy! “Thrilled to bits to share that @marcusobermeder and I are adding to our family thanks to the most incredible surrogate,” the beloved star said.

In February, model Tyra Banks announced she and her partner Erik Asla had welcomed a son, York, via a surrogate. “We are so excited for our new baby boy bundle of joy. The journey to now has not been an easy process, as I’ve shared before. But there was a beautiful bright light at the end of the tunnel for me and his father, Erik,” she explained.

Nicole Kidman’s fertility struggles have been well documented, including a harrowing ectopic pregnancy during her first marriage to Tom Cruise. Although she conceived Sunday Rose naturally with Keith Urban, the couple’s second child together, Faith Margaret, through a surrogate. “she was the most wonderful woman to do this for us. And we were in a place of desperately wanting another child and this opportunity arose for us. And I couldn’t get pregnant and we wanted another baby. I get emotional just talking about it cause I’m so grateful to her,” the star explained during an interview with 60 Minutes.

“I would give my life for the woman who helped me bring my sons into this world,” Ricky Martin said of his surrogate, who gifted the star his two twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, in 2008.

Although he’s never officially confirmed it and vows to forever guard the truth, it’s widely reported that soccer pro Cristiano Ronaldo used a gestational carrier to welcome his mini-me son, also named Cristiano. “it is with great joy and emotion that I inform I have recently become father to a baby boy. As agreed with the baby’s mother, who prefers to have her identity kept confidential, my son will be under my exclusive guardianship,” the sports star explained in a statement back in 2010.

“I was present for the insemination, I held her hand. This is an incredible thing for [the surrogate] to do. I shall forever be grateful to her. I shall forever be grateful to her. [During the process] we held hands, we prayed, we spoke to God. It was meant to be. And now we have a gorgeous baby girl,” actress Ellen Pompeo gushed of her second daughter, Sienna May Pompeo Ivery.

Giuliana and Bill Rancic’s long road to parenthood was well-documented on their hit reality TV show, Giuliana and Bill. After several failed attempts at IVF and the 41-year-old’s battle with breast cancer, the couple turned to a gestational carrier. They welcomed Edward Duke Rancic in 2012 and they’ve never looked back. “She never had any trouble getting pregnant and she just wanted to help, to make a difference for parents who couldn’t do this on their own,” Bill has mused of their treasured surrogate, Delphine.

“They are the greatest thing in our lives. There’s no words to describe how much we love these boys,” Elton John explains of his sons Zachary, five, and Elijah, three, who he shares with husband David Furnish. Both boys were born through the same surrogate. “Elton and David love this lady like a sister and they feel indebted to her for life,” a source revealed.

“There’s lots of ways of being a mother. You have to listen to your heart in this satiation. There are many paths to having a family. I’ve always said I could be a mum. There are lots of babies out there that need love,” Hunger Games beauty Elizabeth Banks explained of the process. Both her sons Felix and Mitchell, who she shares with husband Max Handelman, were born through a surrogate.

Jimmy Fallon describes he and wife Nancy’s fertility struggle as “awful”. But the couple are finally proud parents to daughters Winnie, two, and Frances, one, through a surrogate. “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 has said.

Lucy Liu received the most adorable delivery when she became the proud mama to a baby boy, who was born via a gestational surrogate. The 47-year-old Charlie’s Angels star took to social media late last year to share the beautiful news and reveal his gorgeous name, “Introducing the new little man in my life, my son Rockwell Lloyd Liu. In love!”

“Two eggs, two embryos, one of mine, one of his,” Neil Patrick Harris explains of his gorgeous five-year-old twins Harper and Gideon, who he shares with husband David Burkta.

Celebrity reporter Perez Hilton has welcomed a son Mario and daughter Mia via a carrier. “I’m excited for the two of them, so they can have each other and my son can look after her, It’s a real family now.”

Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband Matthew Broderick fell naturally pregnant with their son James Wilkie but the couple struggled the second time around. “We tried and tried and tried and tried to get pregnant. It just was not to be, I would give birth if I could,” the actress lamented of their hardships. Their daughters Marion and Tabitha were born in 2009.