Paris Hilton is mother

Photo from harpersbazaar.com.au

Paris Hilton and her husband Carter Reum have welcomed a baby boy via surrogate. The couple have turned to IVF, in vitro fertilization, in order to have a child. The baby, named Phoenix, was announced on Instagram through Hilton’s account. In the caption, Hilton wrote “You are already loved beyond words.” Her son, named Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum, has been more or less named for years. Her son’s middle name is a tribute to Hilton’s late grandfather, who she called her mentor.

How did Hilton and her husband start the process?

What is IVF?

IVF is a treatment performed to help create and collect mature eggs for pregnancy. During IVF, mature eggs are collected from the ovaries which are then fertilized with sperm in a lab. The fertilized egg, or embryo, is placed into a uterus. According to the Mayo Clinic, IVF is the most effective form of assisted reproductive technology. The procedure can be done using the couple’s own eggs and sperm, or from a known or anonymous source. 

While IVF is known to be effective, it can also be invasive, expensive and time-consuming. It is not largely accessible to couples with infertility concerns who are not financially secure. 

Hilton learned about IVF through her former assistant and current social media star, Kim Kardashian. She turned to Kardashian for advice, and later chose to freeze her eggs in her late 30s. During the lockdown period of COVID-19, she and her husband Carter Reum chose to start freezing embryos. Over the course of that time, the couple froze about 20 different embryos. 

Hilton says that Kardashian was also the reason she considered surrogacy, and has decided to use the same doctor that Kardashian has seen for her two youngest children, Chicago and Psalm. 

Why children?
Photo from @parishilton on Instagram

Hilton has publicly expressed her desire to be a mother and have children for years now. In an episode for The Bellas Podcast with Nikki and Brie Bella, Hilton spoke about married life. “I love being married. I just feel like I finally found my perfect match and I just feel so safe,” Hilton says of Reum. “I finally have my home and I just can’t wait to start a family and have kids.”

She and Reum have “been talking about kids since the beginning — since the first couple, like, months of dating,” Hilton said that the pair “would love to have twins.” 

Hilton also says she had a bad experience while filming an episode of “The Simple Life,” when she had to be in the room where a woman was giving birth. Hilton says that the experience frightened her, especially since death and childbirth are “two things that scare me more than anything in the world.”

Other celebrities that have turned to IVF

Aside from Hilton, a good number of celebrities have turned to IVF in order to start their family. 

Actress Kristen Wiig welcomed twins with her husband via a surrogate in 2020. Wiig opened up to People magazine on how difficult the process was for her.

Photo from people.com

“It got to the point where I just kind of stopped talking about it entirely, because I would get sad whenever someone asked. It was just part of my life. I gave myself [hormone] shots in airplane bathrooms and at restaurants — and those shots are no joke.”

The Bridesmaids actress opened up on how isolating the experience was at times, but hearing other’s stories with IVF that she is “overwhelmed with gratitude” because of it.

Actress Gabrielle Union has also come forward to discuss the impact IVF has had on her life. Union wrote in her book, We’re Going to Need More Wine, that before IVF her body suffered “eight or nine” miscarriages and three years of failed IVF treatments. 

Photo from Vikram Valluri/BFA.com

IVF and pregnancy can be an overwhelming physical and emotional process. No single person’s experience is the same, not even when it comes to celebrities. 

Tweet us, @VALLEYmag, on Twitter and let us know your thoughts on Paris Hilton’s growing family!

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