Great British Bake Off star Laura Adlington has given birth to her first child after “nine years of wishing”.
The baker, who reached the final of the Channel 4 competition in 2020, has previously detailed her fertility struggles and how she was told to lose 14 stone to quality for IVF.
The 36-year-old revealed in April that she had fallen pregnant after a successful round of IVF with her husband Matt.
She announced on Thursday that they have welcomed their “miracle” baby , sharing sweet photos of them with their newborn son in hospital.
“After 9 years of wishing and 9 months of waiting – our little miracle is finally here, safe in our arms,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Everyone, meet George. George, meet this community of amazing women who have championed you long before you arrived.”
The podcast host went on: “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.”
Adlington announced her pregnancy by sharing a photo of her and Matt holding their baby’s ultrasound scans earlier this year.
The body confidence influencer detailed her “really long and lonely road” to starting a family after initially having “made peace” with the idea that they may not be able to have children.
She explained how they had decided to "quietly give IVF a try" about a year and a half ago, keeping their fertility journey private until now.
Adlington added: “We had an unsuccessful round and a cancelled round, and then found out a couple of months ago that I was finally pregnant.
“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.”
A month later, the TV star spoke out against the NHS, revealing that she was fat-shamed by numerous medical professionals while seeking IVF treatment.
“Our experience with the NHS (just in regards to infertility, I want to add) was dreadful,” she wrote on Instagram.
“We waited 8 months to see a specialist. On the day of our appointment, we were weighed and fat-shamed in the corridor before being able to go into her office, and then told we couldn’t even have tests done because of my BMI.
“BMI is an archaic and inaccurate measure of health, but the NHS uses it as an excuse every time. We had the door shut in our face every single step of the way, and it’s wrong.”
BMI (Body Mass Index), widely used since the 1970s, calculates whether an individual has a healthy weight for their height and a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered healthy.
However, the measure has been criticised for its limitations, particularly its inability to differentiate between muscle mass and body fat, which has led to misclassifications,
Adlington’s BMI was 45, and after being denied IVF through the NHS, she and Matt turned to The Lister Fertility Clinic in London, which did not impose an upper BMI limit.
She previously revealed in 2022 that she was told by doctors to lose 14 stone to qualify for IVF.
Adlington said that she had tried to lose weight and even considered weight loss surgery, but came to the conclusion that it was not the right decision for her.
