Only a day after announcing to the world the addition to her family of baby Faith Margaret, Nicole Kidman has spoken exclusively to the Australian Women's Weekly to express her joy.
In an email overnight to Weekly Editor-in-Chief Helen McCabe Nicole wrote of the anxiousness she and husband Keith felt in the lead-up to the birth of their new daughter.
"As you can imagine, we spent Christmas on tenterhooks," Nicole wrote. "And after Faith Margaret was born on December 28, a healthy 8lbs 9ozs, we spent New Year on cloud nine.
"We have been having a wonderful bonding experience with Faith Margaret. And it is really wonderful to know that our delight is being shared by you and your readers. We feel truly blessed."
The latest addition to the Kidman-Urban clan, a sister to two-and-a-half year old Sunday Rose, and step-sister to Isabella, 18 and Connor, 16, was born to a surrogate mother in Nashville.
In an impressive feat of remaining mum, news of Faith Margaret's existence was hidden from the public until three weeks after she was born.
The Weekly has learned that not even Nicole's closest confidantes, including representatives, colleagues and agents, were aware of the pregnancy until 10 days before the birth.
Nicole and Keith had hoped to keep the birth a secret for another couple of months but were forced to announce baby Faith's arrival when celebrity news website TMZ got hold of the story.
News that the celebrity couple used a surrogate — or "gestational carrier" — to bear their biological child has unleashed a storm of debate about the issue of surrogacy.
Unconfirmed reports say Nicole and Keith, both 43, tried natural conception and IVF before opting for surrogacy. They have not commented on the identity of the surrogate mother, or on whether the woman was paid.
Nicole appears on the cover of this month's Australian Women's Weekly. In an exclusive interview, she defies critics who have lined up over the years to question her life choices.
"I think I'm at a point where I've just had so many things said about me that I just ignore it," she tells The Weekly. "I'm 43 now. I live my life knowing who I am and knowing that it will play out over however long it is that I have left to live.
"It's my life. It's my whole life, and I'll lead it how I choose."
In The Weekly interview, Nicole also speaks frankly about her children, Isabella and Connor, why she refuses to discuss their lives publicly, and her profound love for them.
And ten years after her divorce from Tom, Nicole uses The Weekly interview to describe how she took a long time to recover from the breakdown of that high-profile relationship.
"I just really wanted to spend time alone so I could heal," she says. "And that took me almost six years, which is unusual I know, but that was just how it was. It had to do with me not having anything to give anyone else.
For the full story, buy the February issue of Australian Women's Weekly, on newsstands today.
Subscribe to Australian Women's Weekly to receive 15 percent off the newsstand price and a free Botani skincare pack, valued at $44.90.
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