Great British Bake Off star Laura Adlington has announced the arrival of her baby following a nearly decade-long struggle with infertility.
In 2020, Laura reached the final of the Channel 4 cooking competition series, which saw Peter Sawkins become the youngest ever winner, aged 20.
Two years later Laura went on to share her difficulties conceiving with her husband Matt after she was told by doctors to lose 14 stone to qualify for IVF.
Then in April, the 36-year-old revealed they were set to welcome first ‘miracle’ child.
On Thursday night, she announced the safe arrival of her first-born, also revealing his name to her nearly 500,000 Instagram followers.
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‘After 9 years of wishing and 9 months of waiting – our little miracle is finally here, safe in our arms,’ she began.
‘Everyone, meet George.
‘George, meet this community of amazing women who have championed you long before you arrived.
‘We’re all doing really well and are happily disappearing into the newborn bubble for a bit. But I just wanted to let you know that he’s here and say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all the love and support. I’ve felt it every step of the way.’
Alongside her caption, Laura shared a photo in hospital cradling her son just after giving birth, with other sweet snaps also showing her husband beaming as he looked down at their newborn and his wife.
When announcing her pregnancy, Laura shared a photo with her husband holding ultrasound scans alongside their pet dog.
Detailing her ‘really long and lonely road’ to starting a family, Laura said she’d ‘made peace’ with the idea she and Matt might not be able to have children, and had decided to keep their IVF journey completely private from their family members and the public.
‘We had an unsuccessful round and a cancelled round, and then found out a couple of months ago that I was finally pregnant,’ she said.
‘I’ll be sharing a bit more over the coming weeks about our journey to get here but for now we’re just really excited to share our news with you all. We honestly can’t believe our luck.’
In 2022 she’s previously spoken about the ‘heartache’ of wanting to become a mum but facing significant hurdles.
‘It was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. I felt like if I couldn’t be a mum, what’s the point? I’d always wanted to be a mother, and it wasn’t happening,’ she told The Sun.
After Bake Off, Laura turned her attention to establishing a career as a body positivity advocate, winning the wellness category at The British Podcast Awards in 2023 for her podcast Go Love Yourself with Lauren Smith.
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