It’s official: Halsey is now a parent!
The singer-songwriter announced the birth of their first child with Alev Aydin on July 19, 2021, with a moving Instagram post. In the photo, Halsey cradles their newborn while Alex looks on in wonder, and their caption reads, “Gratitude. For the most ‘rare’ and euphoric birth. Powered by love.” Their baby Ender Ridley Aydin was born on July 14, 2021, the post also shares, so the couple took a few days for themselves before announcing their happy news.
Halsey first announced their pregnancy on January 27, sharing a breathtaking photo shoot from photographer Sam Dameshek with a one-word caption: “Surprise!” In the announcement pics, the musician was sporting a rainbow crochet bikini top with jeans, putting both their tattoos and pregnant belly on display. Fans were immediately overjoyed with the news, with many already speculating about the gift Halsey’s good pal Taylor Swift would craft for their baby.
Alev also reacted to the news at the time, writing, “Heart so full, I love you, sweetness!” The pair has kept their relationship and romance fairly low-key over the past few months, though Elle reported that their friendship goes back all the way to 2019.
Halsey has continued to share updates with fans throughout the past few months, including posting about the ways in which pregnancy has reshaped their feelings about gender. “I’ve been thinking lots about my body. It’s strange to watch yourself change so quickly,” they wrote on Instagram back in February. “I thought pregnancy would give me very strong, binary feelings about ‘womanhood’ but truly it has leveled my perception of gender entirely. My sensitivity to my body has made me hyper aware of my humanness and that’s all. Doing a remarkable thing.”
Prior to announcing the birth of their baby, Halsey unveiled the artwork for their fourth studio album, titled If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. The visuals pay a lot of homage to pregnancy, and the album’s content reflects those themes as well.
“This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth,” Halsey shared in an Instagram post on July 7. “It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the whor*. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being. This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired. We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”
