Neighbours star gives birth to 'miracle baby' after fertility struggles
Olympia Valance has given birth to her first child, a baby boy, with husband Thomas Bellchambers. The model and actress, known for playing Paige Smith in Neighbours, welcomed the new arrival on Tuesday (3 December) and took to Instagram to share the joyous news with an adorable monochrome snap of her son.
Revealing the name she and Thomas have chosen, she simply captioned the picture: "Billy Bellchambers 03•12•2024". A number of pals and fellow celebs took to the comment section to congratulate the couple, with Natalie Bassingthwaighte commenting a selection of love hearts. The TV star married husband Tom in 2022 after meeting three years prior, with Tom popping the question in 2020. Previously, Olympia was in a relationship with Gregg Cannell, and has even been linked to One Direction's Niall Horan in the past.
Olympia's pregnancy comes after a struggle with infertility, which sadly saw the couple go through a miscarriage and the IVF process. So when she found out about this pregnancy, the actress was sceptical something could go wrong. Announcing the news in August, she admitted in a lengthy Instagram post that the couple were 'full of fear' when they saw the positive pregnancy test.
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She wrote: "I’ve been hiding away for the past 5 and a half months to make sure this wasn’t all a dream. But you kept growing and growing and it’s starting to look like our dreams have finally come true.
"I’ve been as open and honest as I could about our struggles with infertility and I truly believed that this day wasn’t going to be possible for us. So when I saw this positive pregnancy test I have to admit, at the time, I wasn’t jumping for joy. I was full of fear because that’s all I’ve known. But as the weeks kept going by it was hard to wipe the smile off our faces.
She continued: "To the little one we never thought we’d meet, we can’t wait to hold you in our arms. You were worth every tear, every setback, and every prayer. To all the people who supported us through the darkest days, thank you. I know I wouldn’t have made it to this point without the strength of my family and friends who managed to hold me up when I was falling apart."
Olympia added that her 'heart aches' for anyone who feels pain seeing her announcement as she urged her followers to 'stay strong, keep fighting and be kind to yourself'.
