Many Hollywood couples took the path of having children in a less conventional way – via surrogate, IVF, and, in some cases, adoption. However, having a child via an anonymous surrogate mother who carries a fertilized embryo for nine months in her womb, seems to be a preferred method among celebrities to become parents.
Read on to see a list of famous couples who experienced the joys of parenthood via gestational surrogacy.
Amber Heard
The actress stunned everyone when she posted a picture of her holding a baby girl earlier this year. Amber captioned the photo: “I’m so excited to share this news with you. Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms”. The actress took the opportunity to support single parents saying that she’s happy that society arrived at the point where “it’s normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib”.
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper and his boyfriend of four years, Benjamin Maisani, split in 2018. However, the former couple decided to welcome a son in April of 2024, raising him together. “As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child. I’m grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son’s birth,” he said. “Most of all, I am eternally grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, watched over him lovingly, tenderly, and gave birth to him”.
Alec and Hilaria Baldwin
The Baldwin family never confirmed or denied that their last child, Lucia, was either adopted or born via surrogate. Hilaria shared a photo of a newborn baby girl only six months after the couple welcomed their last child, saying: “We are so in love with our daughter, Lucia. Just like your brothers and sisters, you are a dream come true.”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Kim Kardashian’s second pregnancy didn’t go as smoothly as the first one when the reality star developed a potentially life-threatening condition, placenta accretes. For Kim and Kanye’s third and fourth children, Chicago and Psalm, the couple decided to have a surrogate carry their children. “Anyone that says or thinks it is just the easy way out is just completely wrong. I think it is so much harder to go through it this way because you are not really in control”, Kim said in 2017.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick
The Hollywood couple has one son, whom Parker carried herself, and twins who were delivered in 2009 by surrogate. “We’ve been trying to expand our family for a number of years and we actually have explored a variety of ways of doing so. This was one of the things we discussed with a seriousness that had real possibilities for us”, Sarah said about their struggle to have more children.
Tan and Rob France
Tan France, the star of “Queer Eye” and his husband Rob went through a long process of choosing a surrogate mother for their child. They negotiated with nine other women before choosing the one that carried their child. In July of this year, the baby was born seven weeks before the due date spending several weeks at NICU. Fortunately, baby Ismail France and the surrogate are doing great.
Tyra Banks
Tyra and Erik Asla welcomed their son York in 2016 via surrogate. “The best present we worked and prayed so hard for is finally here. He’s got my fingers and big eyes and his daddy Erik’s mouth and chin. As we thank the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us, we pray for everyone who struggles to reach this joyous milestone. York Banks Asla, welcome to the world”, the model shared on Instagram.
Lucy Liu
The actress chose a surrogate mother to carry her son Rockwell, born in 2015. “It just seemed like the right option for me because I was working and I didn’t know when I was going to be able to stop. I decided that was probably the best solution for me, and it turned out to be great”, Kill Bill star said.
Elizabeth Banks
Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks have two sons that were delivered by surrogates. Felix was born in 2011, and Magnus one year later. The actress has health problems that prevented her to carry the babies herself, so having a surrogate seemed like a natural next step for them. “After years of trying to get pregnant, exploring the range of fertility treatments, all unsuccessful, our journey led us to gestational surrogacy. From that came two miracles”, Banks wrote on her Instagram page.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
After giving birth to Sunday Rose in 2008, Nicole and Keith had trouble getting pregnant again. After a couple of years of trying out different treatments, the couple decided to go with the surrogate. In 2011, their second daughter Faith arrived. “No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular, our gestational carrier”, the couple shared.
Angela Basset
Courtney B. Vance and Angela Basset fought for almost a decade to become parents. After a series of failed IVFs and a couple of borderline experimental medical procedures, the couple settled on having children via gestational surrogate. Their twins, Bronwyn Golden and Slater Josiah were born in January 2006.
Andy Cohen
The talk show host announced in 2018 that he will become a father via surrogate. “Thanks to a wonderful surrogate who is carrying my future. Family means everything to me and having one of my own is something that I have wanted in my heart for my entire life,” he said on an episode of “Watch What Happens Live.”
Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin and his husband Jwan Yosef have four kids together. Twin boys Matteo and Valentino were welcomed by Martin in 2008 as a single dad. At the time, the Puerto Rican superstar said that he gave up on adopting children since it’s complicated and can sometimes take years to finalize. In 2018, Ricky and Jwan decided to have more children by surrogate mother. First, they welcomed daughter Lucia, and one year later a son, Renn.
Giuliana and Bill Rancic
Bill and Giuliana talked very openly about the IVF procedure they went through ten years ago. Unfortunately, in 2011 the E! host was diagnosed with breast cancer. Before having a double mastectomy and a series of radiation, she froze her eggs. The couple decided to have a child with a surrogate. They welcomed their son Edward Duke Rancic in 2012. Their second attempt via surrogate was unsuccessful in 2015 when the woman carrying the last of their embryo had a miscarriage.
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon and his wife Nancy Juvonen have two daughters, both delivered by surrogates. After the birth of their first child, Jimmy shared: “My wife and I had been trying a while to have a baby. We tried a bunch of things — so we had a surrogate. We said, ‘We’re not going to tell anybody.’ It’d be just more fun if it’s just private between me and my wife. And then we get to introduce her to everybody.”
Elton John and David Furnish
The couple has two sons, both carried by the same surrogate. Sir Elton, 74, and David, 58, have been together since 1993 and welcomed Zachary via surrogate in December 2010, followed by younger brother Elijah, who was born in 2013.
Dennis Quaid
Before Quaid divorced his second wife, Kimberly Buffington, the couple had twins, Thomas and Zoe in 2007. Regardless of the split, both of them stay focused on their kids, co-parenting them while staying on friendly terms.
George Lucas
The Star Wars creator and his wife Mellody Hobson have a daughter Everest, born in 2013. Lucas has three other adopted children with his former wife Marcia Lucas. This was the first child biological child for both.
Robert De Niro
The legendary actor has six children altogether. With his former wife, Toukie Smith, De Niro has twin boys Julian and Aron born in 1995. The couple used a gestational surrogate to deliver the boys. With his second ex-wife Grace Hightower, the Tribeca Productions co-founder has a son, Elliot that was delivered by Hightower in 1998. Thirteen years later, the couple welcomed a daughter Helen via surrogate.
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka
The couple welcomed their twins, Harper and Gideon, in 2010. Neil and David took a bit different path with a surrogate. First, they chose an egg donor and fertilized two eggs. Then, the pair chose two different surrogates to carry each egg. This was they can’t know which twin is their biological child.
Kim Marks 
Nina Smith