The Bachelor alum Ben Higgins has revealed that he and wife Jessica Clarke are expecting their first child together, and they've already shared the baby's sex!
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
"The next chapter of our love story! Baby girl coming in February," Ben and Jessica captioned a joint Instagram post.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
The video, set to "On My Way to You" by Cody Johnson, captured major highlights from Ben and Jessica's relationship over the years -- including the couple's engagement, wedding, and the welcoming of a puppy into their lives.
Footage then flashed to Jessica giving herself a shot in the stomach, seemingly revealing that she and Ben had gone through the IVF process to conceive their baby.
The video concluded with Jessica and the Season 20 The Bachelor star revealing the good news to their family as well as a brief glimpse of one of Jessica's ultrasounds.
Congratulatory comments poured in from Bachelor Nation.
"I'm going to be the best uncle," Wells Adams wrote.
"You guys are going to be amazing parents. Dad mode activated," Adam Gottschalk gushed.
"Yay!!! I'm so so happy for you two!!!" JoJo Fletcher exclaimed.
And Becca Tilley commented, "So beyond happy! That baby girl hit the jackpot with y'all as parents."
Ben later took to Instagram Stories, admitting that he's "kind of speechless for the first time" in his life.
FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!
On Monday, August 19, Ben shared on "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast" that he's been overwhelmed with emotions lately now that he has a baby girl on the way.
"If I'm honest with you, my emotions are all over the place. They are all built and founded with excitement and anticipation," Ben said.
"But I'm super nervous to be a girl dad. If you talk to Jess, she would tell you that she cannot wait to see me as a girl dad, and I would tell you that this is one of my biggest fears because I'm a softie and I cry a lot."
Ben quipped that having a daughter will probably make him cry even more.
Ben teased how he and Jessica will share details about the pregnancy and baby names they've discussed on the "Almost Famous" podcast next week.
"I'll share how [Jessica] has been feeling. I will say this: she's a trooper and I've been so impressed. I can already see the mama bear coming out," Ben gushed.
"She already loves that baby so much, which is really awesome. So we're so excited to share this time with you."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
ADVERTISEMENT
Ben and Jess purchased their first home together in Denver, CO, in December 2020, and the couple got married in a romantic Tennessee wedding in November 2021. (Ben and Jess initially planned to wed in 2020, but they pushed back their nuptials to the following year due to the coronavirus pandemic).
Ben previously revealed in June 2020 that he'd like to start a family within a year or two and probably adopt at least one child with Jessica.
"[Jess] comes from a family of three siblings in total, and I am an only child. I would love to have two kids," Ben told Us Weekly at the time.
"And when I say 'two kids,' I don't know what that looks like. Jess and I are very interested in adopting. I definitely am excited about the idea of adopting... It would be such a gift to our family I think to do that."
Ben continued, "So if that means that we have two adopted kids, if that means we have three adopted kids, if that means we have kids that are biologically ours, I don't know yet. But we definitely want a family."
Ben admitted, however, he does not want "a massive family."
"I am a pretty big introvert and I really do enjoy my time alone. In a huge family of chaos, it kind of makes me anxious. But I do want our kids to have siblings, if possible, to grow up in this world with," Ben shared.
As far as adopting kids goes, Ben said he loves to experience and celebrate different cultures and so raising children from different backgrounds would be a blessing.
"How cool would it be if we have a family of all different cultures coming together to celebrate each other?" Ben suggested. "That is heaven to me. That sounds awesome."
Ben had selected former flight attendant Lauren Bushnell as his The Bachelor winner and the pair got engaged on the show's Season 20 finale that aired in March 2016.
After The Bachelor wrapped, the pair starred on Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After?, but they announced their split in May 2017, about six months after the spinoff's finale aired on Freeform.
"I think doing that show was a mistake for our relationship. It was not a mistake professionally, necessarily, but it was a mistake for our romantic relationship," Ben told The Bachelorette alum Jason Tartick on the September 4 episode of his "Trading Secrets" podcast.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ben elaborated how his priorities were "misaligned at the time," adding, "I was young and naive. I thought we could get through [it]. So when we broke up, Happily Ever After? stopped... I don't know why I said 'yes' to it."
Ben recalled being more like "working partners" than lovers with Lauren while filming Happily Ever After?. He also said their communication stopped for months and they were in "survival mode."
Ben insisted that while Happily Ever After? portrayed him as coming down with a case of cold feet before his wedding, he was actually just having doubts about whether he and Lauren were truly meant to be.
Ben said his split from Lauren was ultimately a mutual decision. Lauren went on to marry country singer Chris Lane in October 2019. Lauren and Chris now share two sons, Dutton and Baker.
"Personally, I hear her now say that maybe love feels differently for her than it did back on her time on the show. And I go, 'I'm glad! Like, you're married with kids. I'm married [too] and, like, yes, love does feel different,'" Ben confirmed.
"I'm glad you're in love with your husband more than you liked me -- or if you liked me at all, like, I'm just glad you like him! That's cool!"
But Ben confessed Lauren "should've gone home" and quit The Bachelor if she wasn't sure about him or serious about their relationship and future together.
"That show was really real for me... I invested, personally, a lot of effort into trying to figure out if it was the path that was going to help me find my partner or not," noted Ben, who also had a brief stint on The Bachelor Winter Games in 2018.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
