In the age of social media, famous people often feel obligated to share everything about their personal lives online. However, others prefer to keep things in their private lives, well, private.
For example, a lot celebs keep their pregnancies hidden from the public. Sometimes, however, they decide to let the world in on their secret after their baby is born so their fans and followers can share in their joy. Other times, a friend accidentally spills the beans.
Here are 19 celebrity couples who had their kids in secret:
1. Adrienne Bailon and Israel Houghton kept their pregnancy a secret until their son, Ever James, was born in August 2022.
On Instagram, Adrienne said, "We have quietly prayed while sitting on this most magnificent secret for the last 9 months. He is worth every tear, every disappointment, every delayed prayer, every IVF cycle, every miscarriage. Everything. All we feel is joy and overwhelming love & gratitude."
She continued, "Grateful to God, to our angel surrogate and to all of our friends and family who have stood with us for over 5 years on this journey. He’s here and we have never been happier to lose sleep!"
2. Michael Cera and his wife Nadine welcomed a baby boy in September 2021, but they kept the birth under wraps until his Life & Beth costar Amy Schumer spilled their secret.
In a joint interview six months after Baby Cera was born, Amy told Entertainment Tonight, "Michael has a baby, too...Is that public knowledge?"
She continued, "I just outed him, I just outed his baby."
Michael said, "We're right at the beginning of it. We're doing the very basics right now."
A few days later, he told Extra, "He's just a little 6-month-old baby."
3. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra were "overjoyed" to announce that they welcomed a daughter named Malti via surrogacy in January 2022.
On Instagram, Nick wrote, "We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family."
However, they seemingly hinted that they were expecting much sooner. In the Jonas Brothers Family Roast Netflix special, Priyanka joked, "If you don't know, we're the only couple who doesn't have kids yet...Which is why I'm excited to make this announcement. Sorry, babe. We're expecting..."
"To get drunk tonight! And sleep in tomorrow!" she concluded.
4. Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara welcomed their son River in 2020, but they weren't the ones to share the news.
During the 2020 Zurich Film Festival, director Viktor Kossakovsky said that his Gunda executive producer wasn't able to attend because he "just got a baby," a "beautiful son."
A month later, the couple spoke about their baby in an op-ed for People, which addressed the news that over 500 immigrant children still had yet to be reunited with their parents. They wrote, "As new parents, it's unbearable to imagine what it would feel like to have our child taken away from us for a day, let alone years."
They continued, "But that's the very situation those 545 children and their parents have been living through. ... As Americans, it's our responsibility to continue paying attention to the plight of these families and get answers for why they still have not been located. ... How will it feel to explain to our son, when he asks us about this time and how we treated scared, defenseless children, some of whom may never see their parents again?"
5. In 2022, Grimes revealed that she and Elon Musk secretly welcomed their daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, after a Vanity Fair reporter heard the baby crying during an interview.
At first, Grimes told the reporter, "I’m not at liberty to speak on these things. ... Whatever is going on with family stuff, I just feel like kids need to stay out of it."
However, after Y (the baby's nickname) cried louder, Grimes said, "She’s a little colicky too. ... I don’t know. I don’t know what I was thinking."
6. However, Elon Musk also reportedly secretly welcomed twins with his executive, Shivon Zilis, in December 2021 — just a few weeks before Y was born.
Shivon is the director of operations and special projects at Neuralink.
7. Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli welcomed their daughter George in April 2021. They announced her birth on their first Mother's Day.
On Instagram, Samira wrote, "Happy first Mother’s Day to my beautiful wife, who four weeks ago today after laboring for almost three days gave birth to our first child — our gorgeous daughter."
8. Though rumors swirled that Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost were expecting, they didn't publicly address it until he confirmed her pregnancy during a stand-up show in August 2021.
While performing in Connecticut, Colin told the audience, "We’re having a baby, it’s exciting."
However, the next day, Scarlett's reps confirmed to People that their son Cosmo had already been born, and Colin made the announcement for both of them on his Instagram.
9. Constance Wu and Ryan Kattner welcomed their daughter in the summer of 2020, but they kept her birth under wraps until a source leaked the story to E! News that December.
Constance shared the news herself in May 2021, telling The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, "I had a beautiful baby girl in August. She's the best."
10. In a September 2020 interview with GQ, Donald Glover revealed that he and Michelle White welcomed their third son "during the coronavirus."
He said, "It was nuts. I was in the hospital bed. My son had just been born, like, an hour before and I was watching the George Floyd video. It was such a weird moment. It was such an intense, weird moment, because I’m watching that video and it’s like eight minutes long — so you’re sitting there and I had just had this amazing, joyful, expanding moment."
He continued, "Plus my dad had passed away recently, so [my son] was named after my father. I don’t even know what, really, the word is to describe it. It was just expanding: the empathy and compassion and the terror and the joy of it."
11. After Jessica Chastain and Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo were seen toting two children around in March 2020, rumors swirled that they'd secretly welcomed a second baby.
Jessica didn't address the reports until the 2022 Oscars. Thanking her children during her Best Actress acceptance speech, she said, "Giulietta and Augustus, you are my heart."
12. Though reports that Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott were expecting surfaced in September 2017, they refused to address any of them.
Kylie spent her pregnancy in hiding so she could avoid being photographed.
In March 2018, the couple shared the news of Stormi's arrival three days after her birth.
13. Seth Meyers and Alexi Meyers welcomed their third child — a daughter named Adelaide — in September 2021. He shared the news on his late night show two months later.
Addie made her surprise debut as part of a Late Night with Seth Meyers annual tradition where her dad dresses his kids up as turkeys for Thanksgiving.
After their eldest son's early birth had them rushing to the hospital in an Uber and their second son was born in their apartment building's lobby, the Meyers opted for a home birth.
14. In 2020, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake didn't respond to reports that they'd recently had a second child.
However, his NSYNC bandmate Lance Bass told Entertainment Tonight, "We've talked several times. We knew it before anyone else did...they're very, very happy."
In January 2021, Justin confirmed the birth of their son Phineas on Ellen. He said, "He's so cute, and nobody's sleeping. But we're thrilled. We're thrilled and couldn't be happier, very grateful."
A few months later, Jessica told the Armchair Expert podcast, "It wasn't like it was supposed to be a secret. It was just COVID happened, and then I went to Montana with my family and never left."
15. Emmy Rossum and Sam Esmail welcomed their daughter in May 2021. After keeping the pregnancy a secret, they shared the news a day after she was born.
Along with the announcement, Emmy also shared pictures from her pregnancy.
16. In June 2020, Iggy Azalea revealed that she'd welcomed a son named Onyx with Playboi Carti.
On her Instagram story, she wrote, "I have a son. I kept waiting for the right time to say something but it feels like the more time passes the more I realize I'm always going to feel anxious to share news that giant with the world."
17. Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender had a baby in early 2021 but kept it secret until that September.
Alicia told People, "I now have a whole new understanding of life in general. That's pretty beautiful, and obviously will give a lot to any of my work in the future."
18. Kristen Wiig and Avi Rothman quietly welcomed twins in 2020. Later that year, she confirmed the news while discussing her struggles with IVF and the decision to have her children via surrogacy with InStyle.
She said, "I've always believed that things happen the way they're supposed to happen, and this is how [our babies] were supposed to get here."
She continued, "I became really close with our surrogate, and it was her first time doing it so we kind of went through everything together. ... Ultimately, I realized that I'm very fortunate. I'm grateful. I'm a different person now."
About a year later, she subtly revealed their names in the "Special Thanks" section of the Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar credits — Luna and Shiloh.
19. And finally, Drake and Sophie Brussaux privately welcomed a baby boy named Adonis in 2018. The rapper's fans first found out about his son in Pusha T's diss track "The Story of Adidon."
In the song, Pusha said, "We talkin' character: let me keep with the facts / You are hiding a child, let that boy come home / Deadbeat mothafucka playin' border patrol, ooh / Adonis is your son."
A month later, Drake confirmed the rumors on his song "Emotionless," rapping, "I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world, I was hiding the world from my kid."
Two other Scorpion tracks referenced his son.
In "8 Out Of 10," he rapped, "Kiss my son on the forehead, then kiss your ass goodbye" and "The only deadbeats is whatever beats I be rapping to."
Then, in "March 14," he said, "She’s not my lover like Billie Jean but the kid is mine / Sandi used to tell me all it takes is one time, and all it took was one time."