Can celebrities really manifest their dream roles through style choices?
The celebrity pair managed to keep their pregnancy with first daughter, Esmeralda Amada, quiet for seven months. We heard about their second baby just before the birth.
Uncharacteristically for a Kardashian, youngest sister Kylie and Travis Scott stayed under the radar while she was pregnant with baby Stormi.
The actress gave birth to a son in April 2018, but until that point we did not even know for certain that she was expecting.
Although the singer did announce her pregnancy publicly in June 2012, she then went off grid until the birth of her son (which was announced by an anonymous source).
Tyra Banks announced the arrival of her son York Banks Asla in 2016. She used a heartfelt Instagram post to thank the surrogate mother who had carried him.
Kerry Washington is very adept at keeping her private life private. She kept her first pregnancy under wraps for four months, and her second for even longer.
The couple now have three children together and the only reason we knew the actress was pregnant with the third was that she pulled out of 'Now You See Me 2.'
Having kept their wedding private, the couple followed suit with their baby girl, Arlo Day Brody. We know she exists from the birth certificate, but there are few photos.
Although the couple's pregnancy was outed by their co-star Noah Emmerich, they kept things low-key and only garnered attention once the baby was born.
When her first baby, Stella, was born via surrogate in 2011, the fact was kept secret for weeks. The same happened when her third baby was born in 2016.
The actress and her husband became parents via a surrogate in April 2018, but this was not announced until November of the same year.
When quizzed about why she kept her pregnancy with son Bennett a secret, she argued that she didn't, she simply didn't advertise the fact.
The actor is famously private about his family—we didn't hear about either of his children until at least a month after they were born.
In 2015, the actress took to Instagram to welcome her son, Rockwell Lloyd Liu. It was later confirmed he was born through a gestational carrier.
Donald Glover confirmed the arrival of his son during a speech at the 2017 Golden Globes, but very little else is known about the baby or his mother.
Although Viola Davis had announced that she and her husband were in the process of adopting, it nonetheless came as a surprise when she became a mom in October 2011.
When Sandra Bullock adopted a baby in January 2010, she somehow managed to keep it a secret despite being in the awards season spotlight following 'The Blind Side.'
The couple kept their love under wraps for 17 years. It's perhaps unsurprising, then, that they managed to keep their pregancy with twins private for the full nine months!
The 'Gilmore Girls' star and her husband are notoriously private—we only found out about their child after co-star Scott Patterson let it slip in an interview.
We may have known about the actress' twin boys, but it came as a shock to most of the world when it was revealed she now has a third son!
The arrival of the celebrity couple's second daughter was kept a secret until she was born. They welcomed baby Faith Margaret in December 2011.
The actress kept her pregnancy remarkably quiet, only announcing her baby with musician Ezra Koenig after she was born.
Given her mom was so vocal about her struggles with fertility and IVF, it's perhaps unsurprising we didn't hear about baby Kaavia James until she arrived.
The singer kept the arrival of his baby girl secret until New Year's Eve 2018, when he announced she was with his family, safe and sound.
See also: Celebrities who looked amazing pregnant.
'Game of Thrones' actress Natalie Dormer told the 'That's After Life' podcast that she and partner David Oakes decided to have a baby during the pandemic, because, she joked, "What else could people do?" Dormer said she actually gave birth three months earlier, so she managed to keep the whole thing under wraps from start to finish. She added that she feels like "a bit of a cliché," and she imagined her daughter will "probably be sitting in a bar in sort of 30 years time on a date going, ‘Yeah, I'm a COVID baby.'"
Without having alerted anyone that she was expecting, 'Shameless' actress Emmy Rossum announced on social media that she and husband Sam Esmail welcomed their first child together on May 24, 2021. "On a sunny Monday morning, at 8:13am, we welcomed our daughter into the world," she wrote, along with a photo of her pregnancy.
It was perhaps easiest to hide a pregnancy amid the pandemic, and that's just what 'Pretty Little Liars' actress Troian Bellisario and 'Suits' alum Patrick J. Adams did. Bellisario posted a black and white photo on Instagram on June 4, 2021 where she is seen holding her newborn. “Ms Elliot Rowena Adams joined us on May 15th under the wildest of circumstances,” she captioned the photo. “A whole new ERA for this family. Welcome, my love.” Adams also shared the news on Instagram with a photo of his daughter's tiny fingers in his hand, and wrote, "Welcome to the funhouse, Ms. Elliot Rowena Adams. May your life be as unique and exciting as your arrival.” The couple are already parents to daughter Aurora.
Naomi Campbell had an unexpected co-model with her on the cover of the March issue of British Vogue: her nine-month-old daughter. The supermodel chose not to reveal her daughter's name, and she's been private about her journey to motherhood ever since she announced on Instagram in May 2021 that she had welcomed her first child. “I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was having her,” Campbell told the magazine. “But she is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done." The only other detail she gave is: "She wasn’t adopted—she’s my child," besides gushing about how much she's enjoying being a mother.
Scarlett Johansson has been extremely private about her pregnancies, particularly with her second child, Cosmo, whom she welcomed in August with husband Colin Jost. In a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, the actress explained her decision to be "so protective" over her pregnancies and said that she didn't "[want] to feel scrutinized in the public eye." She added, "I wanted to be able to have my own feelings about my changing body without other people also telling me how they saw me, whether it was positive or negative." The star noted that it was during her second pregnancy when she realized "how much stuff people put on you when you're pregnant—their hopes or their judgment or their desire, a lot of that is put on pregnant women."
Michael Cera is a notoriously private celebrity, but he was accidentally outed as a father by the ever-candid Amy Schumer. In a joint interview with Entertainment Tonight, Schumer was speaking about lessons for her two-year-old son and said casually, “Michael has a baby, too.” She quickly realized what she said and added, “Is that public knowledge? I just outed him. I just outed his baby.” Cera, clinging to his privacy, only briefly confirmed the news by saying, "We’re right at the beginning of it. We’re doing the very basics right now.” Though he hasn't confirmed his marriage to longtime girlfriend Nadine, it's a safe assumption that the child is shared with her.
Chris Brown seemingly confirmed that he welcomed his third child, a daughter named Lovely Symphani Brown, when he re-shared model Diamond Brown's Instagram post on April 7, 2022, celebrating three months since her daughter arrived. The photo featured little Lovely in a red Gucci onesie, and Diamond wrote in the caption, "I gave you life, but really, you gave me mine. HAPPY 3 months my little firecracker!"
In an Instagram post on May 19, 2022, featuring a photo of a pair of tiny white socks, the singer announced that he and his wife Cherry Seaborn welcomed another child."Want to let you all know we've had another beautiful baby girl," Sheeran wrote. "We are both so in love with her, and over the moon to be a family of 4 x." Ever the low-key couple, most didn't know the pair were even expecting. They already share daughter Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran, whom they welcomed in 2020.
Swedish actors Alexander Skarsgård and Tuva Novotny are a private couple who have been together for an undetermined amount of time. They finally put an end to the speculation after they were spotted in New York carrying a newborn in November 2022. When Skarsgård walked the red carpet for the season four premiere of 'Succession' on March 20, 2023, he confirmed that he is now a dad. This is Skarsgård's first child, while Novotny has a teenage daughter from a previous relationship. True to form, Skarsgård did not reveal when the baby was born or what their name is!
Elijah Wood revealed that he had a second child with partner Mette-Marie Kongsved in a 2023 interview with the Wall Street Journal. The 'Yellowjackets' actor was asked what time he starts his day, and Wood shared that he gets an early start with his two little ones. "We've got a 3-year-old son and a 14-month-old daughter, and she wakes us up pretty early," he said, revealing that he had a daughter for the first time! Wood has always been private about his personal life.
On her birthday on June 24, 2024, Kaling introduced the world to her daughter Anne, born in late February. She shared an adorable picture of her two older kids leaning in on either side of the baby, taken from behind to hide their faces. The post was captioned, "She’s the best birthday present I could’ve ever imagined. When things are hard, whenever I veer towards cynicism, my three kids are such a great reminder of the pure joy in my life. I’m so lucky I live in a place where I could do this by myself, on my own timeline." Kaling has never revealed the paternity of her children.
When it comes to the press, it's hard for celebrities to keep anything secret, let alone the imminent arrival of a child. Yet it's important to lots of celebrities that their children have privacy and that they are shown respect when it comes to their private lives and family home.
Olivia Munn and John Mulaney had their first child together in 2021 during the pandemic, a time when many celebrity couples went through pregnancy undetected by the media. In 2023, Munn was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo a hysterectomy and an oophorectomy as part of her treatment. In May 2024, she revealed that she had frozen her eggs in the hopes of having another child. It turns out, she already had a new baby on the way with the help of a surrogate! Munn and Mulaney only shared the news a week after the baby was born. "Méi June Mulaney came into the world September 14, 2024, the year of the dragon," Munn wrote on her Instagram. "I had so many profound emotions about not being able to carry my daughter. When I first met our gestational surrogate we spoke mother to mother. She showed me so much grace and understanding, I knew I had found a real-life angel."
Check out this gallery to see which other celebrities managed to dodge the media in the run-up to their kids' arrival, many of whom didn't have the privacy of a pandemic!
Celebrities who managed to keep their babies a secret
Olivia Munn and John Mulaney share the arrival of new baby via surrogate
CELEBRITY Pregnant
When it comes to the press, it's hard for celebrities to keep anything secret, let alone the imminent arrival of a child. Yet it's important to lots of celebrities that their children have privacy and that they are shown respect when it comes to their private lives and family home.
Olivia Munn and John Mulaney had their first child together in 2021 during the pandemic, a time when many celebrity couples went through pregnancy undetected by the media. In 2023, Munn was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo a hysterectomy and an oophorectomy as part of her treatment. In May 2024, she revealed that she had frozen her eggs in the hopes of having another child. It turns out, she already had a new baby on the way with the help of a surrogate! Munn and Mulaney only shared the news a week after the baby was born. "Méi June Mulaney came into the world September 14, 2024, the year of the dragon," Munn wrote on her Instagram. "I had so many profound emotions about not being able to carry my daughter. When I first met our gestational surrogate we spoke mother to mother. She showed me so much grace and understanding, I knew I had found a real-life angel."
Check out this gallery to see which other celebrities managed to dodge the media in the run-up to their kids' arrival, many of whom didn't have the privacy of a pandemic!