Getty A newborn baby
Congratulations are in order for a “Dancing With the Stars” alum and his wife — Drew Scott and Linda Pham have welcomed their first child, which is especially poignant for the couple after their arduous IVF journey.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Baby is Named Parker James
On June 1, Drew and Linda, who got married in May 2018, announced via Instagram that they have welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Parker James. The first photo in the Instagram post features a black and white photo of the two parents holding their newborn’s tiny hand and the second photo shows them all in bed together.
They also posted a quick announcement on their podcast site, writing, “We welcomed our baby boy and are over the moon to be starting this next chapter of our adventure together. We’re taking a little break from the podcast to enjoy this time as we navigate our new roles as parents (and try to catch some zzz’s… although that’s probably wishful thinking!).”
Additionally, Linda and Drew recorded a quick session talking about their experience welcoming baby Parker to the world. Linda ended up having to have a C-section and Drew got to announce if it was a boy or a girl because they chose not to know ahead of time. Linda also said it was 44 hours from the time her water broke until Parker was delivered, and in a fun coincidence, he was born on Linda and Drew’s wedding anniversary, which is May 12.
Drew competed in season 25 of “Dancing With the Stars,” finishing in fourth place alongside his partner Emma Slater. On the post announcing their son’s birth, pros Sasha Farber, Britt Cherry and Alan Bersten all left well-wishes on the Instagram post.
Drew and Linda announced the pregnancy back in December 2021, sharing the news first on their podcast, “At Home with Linda and Drew Scott.” At the time, they said their due date was “early May,” so their little bundle of joy decided to make them wait a few extra weeks.
“Cat’s out of the bag, everyone. We are super excited,” said Drew at the time.
After the podcast reveal, they posted a “bathroom selfie” of Linda’s then-tiny baby bump, writing, “It has been an adventure to get here!”
What Drew meant by that was their IVF journey, which has been going on for years.
“When we first started down this path, we quickly felt sooooo appreciative of the doctors we’ve been fortunate to work with, and fam and friends who supported us throughout, sharing their stories or simply just being there. It made an overwhelming time in our lives more manageable. We hope as we grow through this, that even one of you reading this can also feel a little less lonely in whatever path you’re on,” wrote Drew.
He also said that he knows they are “not alone in this experience” of struggling with fertility.
They Shared More of Their Journey on Their Website
In a blog post, Drew and Linda detailed more of their IVF journey in the hope that “by sharing just a sliver of [their] journey, someone out there is reminded that they’re not alone in it either.”
They wrote that they got “so caught up” in their business of helping other people “build their forever homes” that they stopped tending to their family the way they should and then they couldn’t get pregnant.
“Not getting pregnant right away was a wake-up call for both of us,”they wrote.
Linda wrote that she “felt like there were cracks in our foundation,” but Drew just thought their “timing was off.”
“I was just so anxious and sad that maybe it was too late for us,” said Linda. “And then I’d feel dumb for waiting so long, for not having given a thought to whether I wanted kids. (Spoiler alert: I do.) I’d think, I should have worked harder to plan for this, and feel silly that I ignored the possibility that it might not be easy.”
“Dancing With the Stars” returns for its 31st season in the fall of 2022 on Disney Plus.
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