“Chrissy and I were fortunate that it strengthened us.”
Within the past year, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen added not one, but two babies to their family: Esti and Wren, who are not twins but five months apart. Teigen gave birth to Esti in January 2023, and Wren was born via surrogate five months later. To plenty of parents, choosing to double the kid count within a household in one year sounds unbelievably ambitious at best, and at worst, like a recipe for disaster. But to the 17.5 percent of the adult population who experience infertility (myself, Legend, and Teigen included), it makes perfect sense. When your dream of having a child is met with challenge after challenge, factors like timing tend to find their way to the backseat.
For Teigen and Legend — who had struggled to get pregnant, went through multiple rounds of IVF to have their first two children, and lost a pregnancy in 2020 — this situation was kismet. After they had to abort a life-threatening pregnancy, they turned to surrogacy, determined to realize their dreams of one day having a family of four kids. But Teigen also wanted to attempt to conceive and carry a pregnancy one more time. In a new interview, Legend tells us, “When Chrissy decided she would try to get pregnant one more time after we lost our baby Jack in 2020, she didn’t know if it was going to work. So, simultaneously, we were pursuing surrogacy because we didn’t want to assume Chrissy would be able to get pregnant.”
“IVF gives you some control over the process, but it’s far from a guarantee,” Legend points out. (This is also why fertility patients often end up with twins — because they’ll implant two embryos to double their chances of success.)
Miraculously, “it worked with Chrissy before it worked with the surrogate,” he says. “But we’d already started the process with the surrogate.” They decided to “continue down that path,” Legend says. “And we just have two beautiful babies in the house now.”
It’s safe to say they’ve got a full, bustling house.
Currently, Luna, 7, is getting into painting; Miles, 5, is adjusting to his big brother status; and Esti, 10 months, just started crawling. More importantly, everyone in their household just got their updated Covid booster shot (except Wren, who’s only 4 months old, and not yet eligible). Legend partnered with Pfizer to encourage all Americans to ask their doctor or pharmacist about this season’s updated Covid shot: “I think we should all be grateful and not take it for granted,” he says of the vaccine. He was pretty impressed by how well the kids handled the needles — especially Esti, who “was actually so cool about it. She didn’t even cry.”
And at this point, Legend says, the older kids are “pros when it comes to understanding that Covid is a disease that you don’t want to catch or spread because they came of age wearing masks and avoiding exposure.” Now that they’re in school, the whole family has gotten very familiar with germs, which is an inconvenience any parent can relate to. “Oh my God. There are so many colds and RSVs and everything. It’s like a constant update email from the school: ‘Someone has this and someone has that.’ So you’ve got to be careful, and vaccination is part of being careful,” Legend says.
But with everyone generally healthy, “it’s been a really fun and exciting time, and just more energy and joy in the house,” Legend says of his expanding family.
Of course, the couple experienced a lot of trauma before reaching this joyful period. Teigen has always been very public about her and Legend’s fertility journey, which can take a serious toll on an individual and a relationship. (Findings of a Harvard Medical School study suggest “the psychological symptoms associated with infertility are similar to those associated with other serious medical conditions,” including cancer.)
“It was emotional. The hardest part was losing Jack in 2020 — that was very traumatic for both of us,” Legend says. Luckily, they had each other. “All couples react differently to big traumatic events. Sometimes trauma exposes the weakness in your relationship and tears people apart, but sometimes it brings them closer together. We were fortunate that it strengthened us,” he adds. “It just made us realize even more that we’re on the same team and we’re fighting together for our family. And that’s how we got through it.”
One of the songs on his last album, “I Don’t Love You Like I Used To,” was even inspired by their pathway to parenthood. “The whole concept behind the song is that when you grow together with a person and experience all the challenges, all the ups and downs, your love is something different than it was when you first started,” says Legend. “But if things go right, it’s better, stronger. That’s really what the song’s about.”
Navigating all of this called for a major celebration: The couple planned an elaborate party for their 10th wedding anniversary this past summer, and Legend fittingly sang “I Don’t Love You Like I Used To” at the event.
“We celebrated it in the same place where we got married, using the same wedding planner,” he says. “So, it was similar to our wedding, but we didn’t renew our vows. The biggest difference was that we had our four babies there. Chrissy started crying as soon as she looked at them — it was so emotional and beautiful and we just filled up with love and celebration and gratitude. It was really a magical time.”
To Legend, it’s important for his kids to witness how strong his and Teigen’s bond is, no matter what they’re faced with. “I want them to see our love and know that we’re always there for them as a team,” he says. “I want it to inform the way they think about the kind of partners they want in their lives. And I was happy they could see all that.”
