Gabrielle Union just surprised us all with her birth announcement 🎉

A long wait

Last year Union wrote about her experience with trying to conceive in her book, We’re Going to Need More Wine , advocating for people to be more thoughtful when asking others about family planning, because we don’t know who is going through heartbreak over a miscarriage or infertility issues. “For so many women, and not just women in the spotlight, people feel very entitled to know, ‘Do you want kids?'” Union told People while promoting her book. “A lot of people, especially people that have fertility issues, just say ‘no’ because that’s a lot easier than being honest about whatever is actually going on. People mean so well, but they have no idea the harm or frustration it can cause.” She explained that she wasn’t always sure she wanted to be a mother, but after marrying NBA star Dwyane Wade in 2014 and experiencing life as a stepmom to his three boys, she knew she wanted to try. “For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant,” Union wrote in We’re Going to Need More Wine , “I’ve either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle or coming out of an IVF cycle.” She noted that at times during the IVF cycle her body bloated, and she said she appeared pregnant. That led to even more questions about whether or not she was expecting, and she never was.

That struggle may be why Union decided to experience surrogacy out of the public eye, not sharing her good news until after the birth of her daughter. We don’t yet know her daughter’s name, but we do know Union is thrilled, and we are so, so happy for her and her family.