Top 10 Most Followed Celebrity Pregnancies of All Time

We love celebrities, and we love it even more when celebrities have babies. Obstetricians and ultrasound techs aren’t the only ones fascinated by pregnancy and childbirth. The public is fascinated by pregnancy, especially when it involves those whose lives we watch so closely. When celebrities become pregnant, it is always interesting to see what they are doing, how things are going, and how they look as they swell to pregnancy-size. And, of course, it is equally interesting to see what celebrity babies look like when they emerge. Here are 10 of the most followed celebrity pregnancies:

1. Angelina Jolie: Everything having to do with this star is followed obsessively. Her adoptions of children from third-world countries were followed with interest, and when Jolie and her partner, Brad Pitt, announced they were having a baby in January 2006, the tabloids, entertainment magazines and everyone else went wild. A sonogram claiming that it showed Jolie’s baby was listed on eBay, and quickly removed. Shiloh Nouvel was born in May of 2006. In July 2008, Jolie gave birth to twins, Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline. That pregnancy was also followed obsessively in the tabloids. With three adopted children, and three biological children, there is little surprise that the baby-hungry actress is once again the subject of more pregnancy rumors. Even while tabloids report that the relationship with Pitt is on the rocks, speculation continues that Jolie is pregnant — or trying to become so.
2. Katie Holmes: The world watched in wonder as Katie Holmes began a relationship with Tom Cruise. She had grown up watching him in movies, and was now living every young girl’s fantasy: to marry her teen idol. Rumors that Holmes was pregnant surfaced soon after she met Tom Cruise, and were soon confirmed. People couldn’t get enough of the pregnancy news, even though both Holmes and Cruise tried to avoid the press and keep things as private as possible. Indeed, when Suri was born in April 2006, it was months until pictures of Suri were published in the September issue of Vanity Fair. As soon as 2007, the rumors of another pregnancy started, but even there are constant rumors of a second child on the way, none of them have been substantiated as yet.
3. Britney Spears: When Britney Spears became pregnant with her first child, the world took notice. Spears had been making headlines due to her marriage to dancer Kevin Federline, whom she wed after he left his girlfriend for Spears. The press followed every move during the pregnancy, especially since rumors of a rocky relationship between Spears and Federline were swirling. However, Sean Preston was born in September of 2005, and Spears was pregnant a couple of months later. Indeed, Spears’ second pregnancy was followed as voraciously as the first was, and the birth of Jayden James happened just before Sean’s first birthday in 2006. Two months later, Spears filed for divorce against Federline, in what became a media circus. Once again, pregnancy rumors are surrounding Britney Spears, but she is denying them.
4. Sarah Jessica Parker: The Sex and the City star was married to Matthew Broderick for five years before they had their son James Wilke. Women were very interested in Parker’s pregnancy and followed it obsessively. On screen, the makers of Sex and the City employed a number of tricks, since they didn’t want her character, Carrie Bradshaw, to have a baby. That season of Sex and the City was cut short to accommodate Parker’s needs. Instead of getting pregnant again herself, Parker decided on a surrogate for her next pregnancy. She and Broderick decided to hire a surrogate mother for their next child. In April of 2009, Parker’s surrogate delivered twin girls, who now live in New York City with the rest of the family.
5. Julia Roberts: Linked romantically to a number of famous men, Julia Roberts married cameraman Danny Moder in 2002, after the Moder’s divorce from his wife was finalized. Roberts had long expressed a desire to settle down and have children, but she went a long time without doing so. When she was finally pregnant in 2004, the world couldn’t get enough. And, to make this high profile pregnancy even more high profile, it was revealed that she was having twins. After giving birth to twins in 2004, Roberts took a break from movies and concentrate on her twins, living quietly on her ranch in New Mexico. However, in 2007, she had her third child. Early in 2009, Roberts was seen leaving a hospital and once again pregnancy rumors swirled around the star, as well as speculation about her health in a pregnancy now that she is in her forties.
6. Nicole Richie: After battling her weight problems (as in not enough), Nicole Richie began putting on weight. That was enough to start the pregnancy rumor mill. Richie was made famous for her role on The Simple Life, in which she starred with Paris Hilton. The two had a falling-out, though, and Richie went her own way. Richie announced her pregnancy around the time she pleaded guilty for driving under the influence of drugs. The tabloids leaped on the story, obsessively following the pregnancy, and watching for signs that the skinny socialite was unhealthy. Her first child was born in January 2008. Soon after, pregnancy rumors began swirling again. Nicole Richie gave birth to another child in September 2009.

TV Character Pregnancies

Sometimes when TV stars get pregnant, the condition is written into the script. This means that celebrity pregnancies are followed on a number of levels. Here are some of the TV character pregnancies that generated some interest for the public.

7. Dana Scully: The hit television show, The X-Files, featured a pregnancy for FBI agent Dana Scully. Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, was told she would never have a baby. However, after becoming romantically involved with her partner Fox Mulder (something that generated interest itself), and after a series of strange events, it was revealed that Scully was expecting. Anderson had been pregnant before, but the show’s producers and writers apparently felt it was not time for Scully to have a baby. In the end, Scully’s baby is revealed to have special powers. He is given up for adoption. However, it was never revealed on the show who the father was, nor how Scully became pregnant in the first place. In the latest move about The X-Files, Scully’s son is referred to, but there are no answers about what became of him.
8. Phoebe Buffay: When Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay on the extremely popular TV show, Friends, became pregnant during the fourth season, the producers and writers decided to create a pregnancy for her in the show. Instead of having her own babies, though, in the show Buffay acts as surrogate for her half brother. The world watched as she had triplets on behalf of someone else. This TV pregnancy raised the profile of surrogacy, and saw an interest in this method of conception and pregnancy.
9. Sydney Bristow: One of the more popular television shows was Alias, in which Jennifer Garner played secret agent Sydney Bristow. However, when Garner became pregnant during season five with Ben Affleck’s baby, the show took that into account and decided that her character should have a baby with Bristow’s lover, Vaughn. Bristow continues to go on missions, even though she is pregnant. She does end up being pulled off assignment at one point. The world watched with interest, on and off screen, as Garner’s (and Bristow’s) pregnancy unfolded. On the show, Bristow had her baby while trying to free herself from a kidnapper.
10. Lucille Ball: Back in the day when I Love Lucy was hugely popular, pregnancy was not considered “decent” for television. However, while Ball was pregnant with the child of her husband and co-star, the producers and writers decided to work it in. As the TV audience watched, Ball’s pregnancy progressed. However, to keep from totally offending the sensibilities of the audience, the word “pregnant” was never used.